Building Bridges
by dreamsofyesterday1
Summary: Part 23 of the Robyn series. With her family at war Robyn tries to face the truth about her paternity. Bessie seems strangely nervous about something, could it be the result of a violent confrontation with Lily or something more serious?
1. Chapter 1

Building Bridges

Part Twenty-Three of the Robyn Series

Down the deep twisting corridors of the Crazytown safe house something was growing. Whispers blossomed in rooms long abandoned. Dust scattered over every surface rippled in time with an invisible beat that pulsed silently through the room. Shifts in the light formed shadows along the walls cast by objects that had once stood before them. One of the shadows thrown across the lofty ceiling moved slowly through the echoing emptiness all around it. In its wake another shadow followed but this was one of flesh, silhouetted against the white washed walls. It moved slowly around the winding corners, the double bending corridors that seemed to merge into one another. They seemed to form a maze to drive those already deep in madness deeper still as they lost their way within its depths and lost their grip on sanity as it became entangled in the mass of twists and turns.

Stirring the dust with her footsteps as she walked through the whispering whirls of silver gleaming in light cast from above she moved slowly through the darkened corridors. Beneath the silent echo of her footfalls upon the floor, screams filled the air, screams drifting along unused air vents from the building opposite the one she was in. They knew she was there, they're agitation was thick in the air as they grew louder, clamouring at the walls around them, wanting to escape their torment.

But those that screamed were mere husks strapped to beds in padded rooms, their bodies empty shells and their minds clouded with drugs. Only she could hear their desperate cries, their longing to be heard but she would not answer them. She could not, for she was but a shadow herself.

Through glassy eyes she could see the end of the corridor approaching, the wide double doors that stood at the end of it, forbidding any further progress. Beyond the doors was what she sought and standing before them she reached inside the room behind them with her mind.

He was waiting for her, wakened by her presence. Looking at the handles on the door she pushed them down, once more with her mind and pushed the doors open. As she crossed over the threshold they began closing slowly behind her, silently clicking shut as she stood behind the man she had come to see.

His back was turned to her, his countenance told her that he wasn't yet ready to look at her. It seemed something he could barely bring himself to do but he would have to do it at some point.

"What, ding, brings you, beep, here young, ding, lady?" He asked, his words broken up by his speech impediment.

She smiled in amusement and measured her tone of voice before she replied, "I need you to answer a few questions for me, Doctor Cranium."

Everything was strangely quiet in the area of town he was driving in. Checking the time on his in-car clock he noticed that it should have been much busier than it was but there were hardly any other cars on the road and no people on the streets. It was rather eerie to see things so quiet but it was something he had seen spreading its way across CrazyTown like a cancer. Something was happening but he didn't know what, no one seemed to know.

Whenever the people of the town were asked what was going on, albeit those lucid enough to understand what was being said to them and give an appropriate answer, they refused to say anything. Those that did answer either lied or gave an answer that only someone from the town could give.

But no one wanted to say anything.

Doctor Cole groaned as it started to rain again. The weather men had promised that they'd had all the rain they were going to have for the week but they'd also promised that it would be snowing little white rabbits with umbrellas for arms.

'So much for CrazyTown meteorologists,' He thought as he flicked the switch for his window wipers.

As he passed through the main part of town and into the outskirts he realised that all the other traffic had vanished. He was alone on a deserted road where hardly any of the street lights were yet lit, it seemed that the Town Authority had chosen to selectively light sections of the town to try and keep energy prices down, an idea that had been praised by many and yet rejected when it was found that it was the rougher parts of town being left in the dark. They were parts of town that it would have been recommended stayed lit but their reputations had been ignored, a fundamental error in the running of any Town.

Focussing all of his attention on the road ahead of him the Doctor continued to drive through the area. Just beyond the reach of the headlights on his car a railway bridge loomed above him. As he neared it he watched the light glinting off its shiny steel surface. Lowering his eyes to the level of the road he noticed something unusual huddled up beneath the bridge. At first he thought it was a solid object but as he got closer it seemed to have more shape than that. It looked almost like a great pile of clothes.

Feeling a need to investigate further, Doctor Cole indicated that he was pulling in and stopped at the side of the road. Switching off the engine and pulling the keys from the ignition he left the car. In the bright unfettered glow of the headlights he could see clearly as he walked towards the strange object.

As he got closer he could see that it wasn't a mere pile of clothes left abandoned beneath the bridge, there was someone inside them. Kneeling beside the person now he reached out with his hand, glad to find that the skin his fingers came into contact with was warm. Slowly the Doctor turned the person over onto his back.

Seeing the heavily bruised and bloodied face of the man he found he rose quickly, stumbling backwards as the blackened eyes opened and fixed upon him.

"Morgan?" He whispered.

The mention of his name made him turn around and his eyes focussed on his questioner. He had not heard the name for a long time; he had not heard it for over twenty years. Even though such a length of time had passed he could see the resemblance in the young woman's face as she stood before him.

He remembered her as one of the two children he had removed from her mother's grasp and had hoped to hide for a very long time only to find that her mother had spirited her away, leaving her other child in the cradle in which he had been laid. He had feared the infant in great danger and even dead but he later found that her mother had taken her to a place called Lazytown. He had found her again and had tried to get her moved to a safer haven but despite his best efforts his pleas were overturned and the man that had found her had been allowed to keep her. It seemed to go to waste when Lily returned to reclaim her child and had almost caused it harm but something had stopped her from killing the child she had released.

It was something of a relief to him too see the child now stood before him again, a woman and very much alive but a sickened pang in his stomach chilled him still further than death had when she had said that she had questions to ask him and he thought he knew what one of them was going to be. He was the only one that really knew what had happened in that room on that night and he could still remember the night, four years later, when he had felt the harsh scratching of a noose around his neck and his feet being forced from beneath him.

He closed his eyes against that memory. It was something too painful for him to recall for too long but now, stood here in his office once more, the noose still hanging from the light fitting, it seemed almost surreal.

"So she killed you." Robyn said, gently scanning the Doctor's thoughts, "Everyone thought that you'd committed suicide."

"I had, beep, fully prepared to do so, ding. But Lily came back, beep, and helped me, ding, on my way. I couldn't live, beep, with what I had done, ding in letting her loose again." Doctor Cranium paused as he allowed himself to return back to the issue in hand, "Beep, so what brought you here, ding, to me?"

Robyn looked deeply into Doctor Cranium's eyes when she said, "I want you to tell me if you're my father."


	2. Chapter 2

They stared at each other for what could have been ages, their only movement the blinking of their eyes and the heaving of their chests. One's breath was ragged, the other sounding as if he were underwater, his lungs gurgling with every breath. Beneath the gurgling sound came another, a low whining sound like that of a beaten dog as the one prostrated upon the ground lost consciousness and his head lolled to one side, the blackened eyes closing tightly against the tide of blackness that had rolled over him.

Recovering his senses, Doctor Cole sprung into action as quickly as his advanced years and damaged body would allow him to. Kneeling beside Morgan he placed his cheek over his new patient's nose and mouth and checked his breathing, what he heard was not good.

Wasting no time he manoeuvred Morgan into the recovery position and hoped that the blood he had heard welling up in the young man's chest would find some way out, if it didn't he knew that without prompt treatment the injuries that Morgan had suffered could prove fatal. Despite all his years of experience and knowing what it was his patient would require in his treatment there was one thing that now puzzled the Doctor and cast a shadow of fear across his heart

What happened now?

For any of his patients and any other, the answer was simple, call for an ambulance and send them to a hospital for treatment. But this was no ordinary patient, this was Morgan, a known killer and feared throughout the three towns of Lazy town, Crazy town and Greentown, if not further afield still.

To take Morgan to hospital was unfeasible, it was dangerous not only to Morgan who in such an injured state would be almost unable defend himself against any that felt ill of his presence but also to the others in the hospital if Morgan chose to harm them even in his current state.

It was impossible for him to take Morgan to his house, there were many in GreenTown that would do them both harm if they knew of his whereabouts and his patient needed near constant care. There was little chance that Michael would take the time to keep watch over Morgan or even be around all the time.

There was only one last option left to the Doctor. With doubt in his mind he pulled out his mobile phone and dialled a number that was almost as familiar as his own. After a few rings the phone on the other side was answered.

Licking his lips the Doctor spoke quickly, "Robbie, I need to ask you a very very big favour,"

It was almost as if a great weight had been dropped upon him, what breath he may have had in his body escaped him. He had never thought before how such a question could have affected him but the possibility was unnerving. Closing his eyes, he wished that he had never been summoned by the power that his unexpected guest radiated around her. While she was there he couldn't leave, she would just pull him back again. The only way he could leave would be to answer her question.

"Beep, there is, ding, a possibility," Doctor Cranium sighed.

She wanted him to elaborate, to tell her something more, to give her a definitive answer but something was stopping her. She was shaking; someone was shaking her, not here but elsewhere. Someone was trying to wake her, to pull her back to her body. Unable to fight it, she let herself go.

Kit nearly jumped back from the bed, surprised by the suddenness of how Robyn woke. He had been trying to rouse her for some minutes and hadn't expected her to waken so quickly from seemed to be an extremely deep sleep.

Recovering from his surprise and giving Robyn a sheepish grin, Kit explained his need for waking her, "There's someone downstairs, they want to see you."

"Ok, give me a second to get changed and I'll be down." Robyn smiled as she got out of bed.

Returning the smile, Kit pressed a kiss to Robyn's lips and sauntered out of the room, closing the door behind him. He leaned against it with a sigh for a moment and proceeded downstairs.

Five minutes later Robyn left her room and began to make her way downstairs. She could hear hushed voices that seemed to grow quieter as she reached the stairs and took the steps down. There was near silence when came to the bottom, looking around the living room she could see several men, some she recognised, some she didn't but there was one face that stood out amongst them all, not just because of the injuries inflicted to it but the features that were not too dissimilar to her own.

Looking at the row of faces once again that stood around the seated figure with a frown she tried to dispel the image of him but by some force her eyes were drawn to him once again.

Taking three shaky steps closer to him she shook her head, "Morgan?"

((I'm sorry for the incredible lateness of this chapter but hopefully you'll enjoy it and will continue to follow the story and I can promise more frequent updates))


	3. Chapter 3

She almost couldn't believe what she was seeing, the cuts all over his face mingled with the tightness of pain. He was here, sitting on her sofa in her house. She continued to walk towards him, the space between them seemed to be growing rather than shrinking and the closer she came to him the more the people around her seemed to vanish. At last she reached the place where her brother sat and knelt down in front of him, her eyes fixed themselves onto his as one of her hands came to rest on his.

Morgan started, withdrawing his hand quickly. The pain this action caused halted his breathing for a moment and his eyes closed as his head swam somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness. Consciousness won out and his eyes opened once again and almost as if it was instinct they met his sister's. Robyn was standing now, he'd startled her with his sudden movement and her eyes showed a depth of concern he couldn't understand the source of. As he continued to gaze into her eyes he felt a tiredness he'd not been aware of creeping up on him. He could hear Robyn speaking to him but her mouth wasn't moving, it was as though she were saying one word to him directly into his brain, "Sleep". He could fight it no longer and his eyes closed once more as he felt his body slump at the same time as he lost all awareness of his surroundings.

No one in the room had moved in the space of time Robyn had approached Morgan or knelt down in front of him, they'd stayed still until the moment Morgan had taken his hand from Robyn rapidly and she'd stood, startled. The ones that had the quickest were the men from the Network but they'd stopped as suddenly when they saw Morgan falter briefly before he seemed to lose consciousness. Now, again, they stood still and observant – looking at Robyn.

"What happened to him?" Robyn broke the silence, her eyes still fixed on Morgan and her words floating on the air for someone to answer.

"I don't know exactly," Doctor Cole replied, stepping out from behind Robyn and nudging her slightly to one side so he could attend to his patient, "I found him in Crazytown under the railway bridge. He'd been there a while by the looks of it, he's lucky to be alive."

One of the Network men shook his head and stepped forward from his place in a group of six of his comrades by the front door. His movement forced the others in the room to shift the focus of their gaze from Robyn, Morgan and the Doctor to him.

Knowing he was the full attention of all but one of the occupants in the room the man spoke, his tone harsh, "And why on earth did you bring him here? I'd have left him for dead!"

Doctor Cole coloured. Having made sure that Morgan was merely in a deep state of sleep, he stood shakily and glared at the insolence of the Network Man.

"I'm a Doctor!" Doctor Cole replied his tone as harsh as the man that had addressed him, "Regardless of who he is, or what he's done, he's my patient. I have a duty of care to him and that includes ensuring that he's somewhere he can be treated without any risk of further harm. You know full well that I couldn't take him anywhere else and I'm sure you can be happy in the fact that while he's here you can keep your beady little eyes on him but rest assured, he'll be no trouble for you for a while yet. Who are you anyway?"

"I'm Langford, deputy head of the division here. I'm well aware of your duty of care Doctor; let me make myself understood as to my duty of care. My job here is to ensure that both him and Lily are kept out of this town and you've just gone and waltzed right in with him. If Lily finds out that he's here don't you think she's going to try and get him back and think that we did this to him?"

It was Robyn's turn to shake her head, for the first time since she'd encouraged Morgan to rest her eyes left him and she directed her gaze to Langford, "It was Lily that did this to him."


	4. Chapter 4

Langford stared blankly at Robyn as did several others in the room. His self control kept his jaw from falling open at this revelation though in his head his chin had just hit the floor. He knew of Robyn's abilities but had never witnessed them first hand and his better judgement told him she was right.

Following the murder of Elias, Langford had been drafted in as a deputy head of the division that had taken over the original team that had extracted Robyn from Toronto and had remained in LazyTown ever since. Most of Elias' team had been pulled back very swiftly to the Network's headquarters and faced intense questioning, none more so than Elias' subordinate, Boris. One rogue had been found in the team already and it was the Network's concern to ensure there wasn't another.

Langford shuddered inwardly at the thought.

He realised he'd been staring at Robyn for what could have been ages and shook himself from his thoughts. She was staring back at him and her expression made him bristle with annoyance. Ever since he'd first met her they'd butted heads, as much as he imagined she'd done with Elias.

"That's a nice mental image," Robyn's voice broke through his resumed musings and this time his set jaw made a fraction of a movement downwards.

Robyn smiled very slightly at the small victory she had gained in making Langford react visibly, for her it came with great satisfaction. She'd read his thoughts and seen the image of her and Elias butting heads playing in his mind.

She was all too aware of Langford's dislike for her and she'd made sure he knew the feeling was mutual. From the get go of their first meeting he had made it very clear that based on her past exploits and disappearences she was what he'd termed a 'liability' and ordered that she be under 24 hour guard and escorted by two Network officers at all times, even while she was at home. After days of arguing Langford had relented to her only being guarded by one person at home and only when she was awake but, he had refused to budge on her having two guards anywhere outside of her house which made dinners at the Mayor and Bessie's house especially interesting.

"So what do you intend we do with him?" It was Langford's turn to breach Robyn's state of thought.

"We keep him here. I'll look after him," Robyn replied.

Something akin to a gaffaw escaped Langford, "You want to keep him here and look after him? You realise that one, you're not a nurse and two, you don't have the space. Not to mention the fact he's a killer -"

"And my brother!" Robyn snapped, cutting Langford off mid sentence. "How do you think he's likely to harm anyone in this state? He's been beaten within an inch of his life and can barely move without being in agony."

"Then why doesn't he come and stay with us?" Mayor Milford Meanswell asked as he shuffled through the gap in the group by the front door left by Langford changing position.

"MIILFORD!" Came a shrill shriek from behind the Mayor as Bessie bustled her way up to him, "you want him in our house?"

The Mayor nodded and seeing Langford begin to raise his hand in objection he said, "we have more room and he can be better monitored there. We have two spare rooms so some of your men can keep constant watch on him without getting under Robbie, Robyn and Kit's feet."

Bessie shook her head but remained silent, the Mayor's tone had signalled that his mind was made up but she questioned if that mind had enough reasoning in it to know what he might be letting himself in for.

In one way or another she was sure that Morgan's presence in town spelled trouble.


	5. Chapter 5

Voices, he heard them. There were three, maybe four of them. One of them was female, the others male and all unfamiliar. He strained his hearing but could hear no more than the garbled tones of the voices. They were different in pitch and volume, the woman's voice seemed louder than most and if he could measure the incoherent squawking against an emotion he would have called it a mixture of anger and disdain.

He was only glad that he was sure that he voice he heard wasn't Lily's, or almost better still, Robyn's.

Robyn.

Where was she?

In fact, where was he?

The last he'd remembered he was in her house, on her sofa. He could vaguely remember through the haze of the pain that had throbbed through his body at the time that he'd been surrounded by men in black uniforms. They'd watched him closely, almost as though they were weary of his every movement regardless of how small. Somehow while he and Robyn had been looking at each other he had fallen asleep. She'd made him go to sleep somehow. Now he was somewhere else and switching the focus of his attention from his hearing he realised his pain had dulled though he was still cautious of making sudden movements in case of another wave of agony that could drag him back into the realms of sleep. If that happened there was no telling where he may then have awoken.

Though he was almost lost in thought he didn't fail to detect the sound of motion very close by him and the muted groan that followed it. Unable to resist his curiosity, Morgan slowly allowed his eyes to open.

"Ah, you're awake," A familiar male voice said to him, "I was almost starting to wonder what my next move would be if you didn't wake up."

Morgan turned his head to face his interlocutor, puzzled by the meaning of the previous statement and the possible implications his not waking up may have had on his future his eyes searched the man for answers.

The man returned Morgan's questioning look with a reassuring smile, "I didn't mean that in a bad way. You're staying depended on you waking up; if you'd been deeply unconscious or worse I don't know where else I could have taken you."

This statement caused Morgan to let out an almost undetectable sigh of relief. Breathing deeply he willed his voice to work as he spoke.

"You're the man who helped me by the bridge, who brought me here." He croaked.

"That's right," Doctor Cole nodded, "I'm Doctor Cole, you could call me Lazytown's almost official physician. I found you, brought you to Robyn's house and helped them move you here. I've dressed your wounds and administered some pain relief. You were badly beaten as I'm sure you're well aware but in time, you will heal."

"Why did you help me?"

"As a Doctor it's one of my principle duties to help those in need no matter who they are, even if they're murderers. It's not my most favourite part of the job, being obliged to help cold blooded killers, but if I didn't do it I'd be undoing everything I've dedicated my life to."

Morgan took in the Doctor's words and they struck a chord deep within him, licking his cracked lips he decided to ask the question that had plagued his mind since the Doctor had mentioned his being 'here'.

"Where am I?"

"You're at the town Mayor's house. He kindly suggested that you are cared for here as he has a bit more room here than they have at Robyn's. Now you're awake, I'll hand you over to their capable hands and go home." Doctor Cole stood, tipped his head in farewell and turned to leave the room. Pausing just inside the threshold of the door he turned back to face Morgan, "But let me tell you, even though the primary statute of the Hippocratic Oath is 'to do no harm' if I hear you've hurt anyone in this house it won't stop me from accidentally giving you one or two doses more of painkillers than I should give you."

Once Doctor Cole was satisfied that his warning to the young man before him had sunk in and been understood he turned again and left the room. On his short journey down the corridor to the kitchen he was disconcerted with the fact that his final words to Morgan sickened him.

"I've been in this job too long," He muttered to himself as he walked into the kitchen.


	6. Chapter 6

Michael paced the floor of the living room in the home he shared with Doctor Cole. He moved his eyes constantly from one part of the room to the other as he weaved slow patterns on the carpet from his motions. He could hear them, his superiors, their voices filling every fibre of his being. Since he had suffered an attack at the hands of another of Lily's offspring the Judges had had no prior knowledge about they had questioned whether their spy was still up to the task of exacting the role they had given him. Their voices had slowly risen from the smallest of whispers since the attack to shouts that he couldn't get away from. As he felt the presence of another of his kind enter the room he stopped his pacing and held his breath.

It was his time to be judged.

"Robyn?"

Robyn turned sharply to see Kit looking at her strangely. She'd been talking to him and then suddenly trailed off when she felt something far beyond the reach of her senses yet dangerously close. The concern didn't leave his face as she stood up rapidly, stumbled slightly as her equilibrium compensated for the swift movement and left the kitchen without a word. She heard Kit and her guardian of the day get up and start after her as she put her shoes on and wrenched open the front door. Through her compulsion to investigate the source of the niggling she heard her guardian calling on his radio for the second person she needed to be with her.

Having reached one of the Network vehicles Robyn whirled round and faced the now three men that were looking at her with the same strange expression that Kit still stood with plastered on his face.

Indicating the vehicle Robyn looked at her two guardians, her eyes no longer paying any attention to Kit, "Can one of you drive this?"

"I can," One of the men offered standing forward slightly, "What's the emergency? Where do you want to go?"

"There's no time! We have to go _now_!" Robyn shouted.

The volunteer driver jumped at Robyn's reaction to her question and he began to stammer something about needing authorisation before taking both her and a vehicle out of town as he searched haphazardly in his pockets for the car keys. Robyn didn't seem to want to listen to this and was becoming increasingly impatient, her raised voice having drawn a great deal of attention of the nearby Network men patrolling the town.

She knew that her hurried attempt to leave town was over as quickly as she had begun it when Langford came striding up, his face stormy, and the tingling sensation at the edge of her senses faded. There was no way to trace it now. Whatever it had been it was gone and there was no point in trying to see what it was, the moment had passed.

Defeated, she tramped back to the house with her onlookers now numbering in double figures and all looking confused.

Hearing the commotion outside, Doctor Cole left the Mayor's house and saw the tableau that had just occurred come to its conclusion though he was sure the appearance of someone that hadn't been seen in two weeks would start another one. It was at this point that he considered whether or not he should get his medical kit ready.

Several people made to move forward to halt the progress of the new arrival in town who had parked his car in a rush on the edge of the Town Square but he weaved his way past them and caught up with Robyn.

"What do you want?" She asked coldly, stopping her forward motion and turning round.

Unfazed by Robyn's coldness, Sportacus answered her directly, "I wanted to see you, I was almost here when I saw you storm out of the house. What's the matter? If you need to go somewhere I can take you."

"It doesn't matter anymore. I felt something but it's gone."

Sportacus nodded, hoping that his offer of a ride hadn't been ignored completely. He was trying to offer an olive branch to his alienated daughter. All hope that his attempt to build a bridge with her almost failed until she sighed and looked at him once more.

"Can we talk?" She asked and almost as an afterthought looked over her shoulder at Langford, Kit and her two guardians, "In private?"

Langford huffed but assented, "Very well. But I want a word with you myself when you're done young lady."

Out of the two conversations she was about to have she had to admit to herself that she was looking forward to the one with Langford the least. Gesturing to her father to follow her, she made her way back to the house.

Langford kept his eyes fixed on Robyn's back until she was out of sight behind the front door that had just closed and turned to look at the man that he could hear quietly chuckling just to the side of him.

"Something funny, Kit?" Langford enquired, one of his neatly groomed eyebrows rising as he finished the question.

"Only that I think you stepped in something on your way over here." Kit replied, stifling his chuckles.

Looking down at his shoes, Langford found one of them to be smeared with dog's mess. Grimacing began to walk back in the same direction he had come from and, fortunately for Kit, failed to hear him praise the three legged mongrel who had been the source of what had tarnished the Network operative's shoe.


	7. Chapter 7

Sportacus smiled slightly as a steaming hot mug of coffee was placed on the table in front of him. Looking up he uttered a quiet 'thank you' before picking it up and taking a cautious sip.

"Don't worry; there isn't any sugar in it. No matter what's happened between us I wouldn't do that to you." He heard Robyn say.

Turning his head to look at Robyn, who he'd noticed had seated herself on entirely the other end of the sofa, he couldn't conceal the slight look of surprise that had registered on his face. He almost asked her how she knew what thought had flitted across his mind before he'd sipped the coffee but shook his head. He already knew the answer and admonished himself for thinking that she could have laced his drink with sugar and brought on a sugar meltdown. He also knew better than try to explain his thought by telling her he just wondered if there was a possibility she could have mixed up their cups and given him hers, knowing that she took sugar.

She already knew what he'd thought and why.

Realising that she was probably still reading his thoughts he decided to change the subject, "What did you want to talk about?"

Robyn took in a deep, shaky breath. "I've done and said a lot of bad things to you recently. Things that can't be forgiven and can never been taken back. I wanted to apologise to you for my part in things, it doesn't mean I can forgive you but I'm so tired of fighting with you and being angry with you. I'm just so tired..."

Sportacus looked on as Robyn trailed off and sobs racked her body. She'd brought her hands up to her face and bent over so far her arms rested on her legs. She was suffering and he couldn't resist the urge to reach over and place his hand on her shoulder.

At the sudden physical contact Robyn flinched violently and seemed to move herself even further from him on the sofa which he thought was almost impossible.

"Don't touch me," she gasped, "I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

"That's ok," Sportacus nodded, understanding. "I've done some terrible things to you as well, things I can never take back and I wish I could change or done differently. I can't expect or ask you to forgive me for what I've done. What you've done to me could never match up to what I've put you through and even though it still hurts I forgive you."

Robyn sniffed and looked at her father for the first time since he'd caused her to flinch. She could see in his eyes that he was truly sincere and had truly found the strength to forgive her for everything she had done to him. She could also see that he held no expectation for her to forgive him and it both confused and relieved her.

Taking a chance, Sportacus edged slightly closer to Robyn. She didn't attempt to move away from him and feeling bolstered by this he decided to proceed with the thing he had come to town to do. Before the invite from Robyn to come and talk and the unexpected conversation he'd had with her, he'd felt sure that the offer he was going to make would be flatly refused but now he had hope that she'd accept.

Tentatively licking his lips, Sportacus took the plunge. "Why don't I take you out for dinner some time? We can go anywhere you like and I can pick you up and drop you back here. Maybe you could even see my new place? We could spend time together, just like old times."


	8. Chapter 8

Sitting on a bench in the Town Square, Kit stared at the house. Sportacus had been in there with Robyn a long time, much longer than he'd anticipated and he was starting to feel edgy. Respecting Robyn's wish to speak with Sportacus privately, he'd kept away but was trying to work out an excuse for going back to the house and disturbing the pair. As much as he tried he just couldn't think of a plausible one. He didn't want to just barge in but as time went on and his imagined scenarios fell flat he was starting to get desperate.

It wasn't just the time Sportacus had spent in the house that was worrying him, it was the silence.

"If it's any consolation I haven't heard any screams yet," A voice said beside him.

Kit looked to his right and saw Doctor Cole sitting next to him, his medical bag resting by his feet. "That's what worries me," Kit replied looking to the house again, "I'd have expected to hear yelling, anything, but there's not a peep. She could be doing anything to him in there."

It was Doctor Cole's turn to chuckle and he gently kicked his medical bag, "That's why I brought this with me. Somehow I don't think we have anything to worry about."

Nodding with an 'I hope you're right' look on his face, Kit turned to look at the Doctor again. "How's Morgan doing?"

"He's awake. I gave him a good checking over and gave him some pain relief. He has a couple of broken ribs and minor internal bleeding by the looks of it but I'm sure it'll stop soon. His bruising hasn't gotten any worse since I first looked at him so I'm fairly confident that he'll heal on his own. He'll be sore but he's over the worst of what happened to him, physically at least."

"Given the circumstances I'm not sure whether that's good news or not. Either way, I'm sure Robyn will be relieved." Kit sighed.

Seeing his daughter's fleeting reaction to his suggestion Sportacus cursed himself inwardly, '_Too much too soon, you idiot'_ he thought then looked sheepishly at her realising that she had most likely heard him calling himself an idiot. Instead of the reproachful look he had expected to see on her face he saw that it was softer than it had been for what seemed the longest time. Her eyes seemed softer and her lips were curved into a thin smile, almost like the old Robyn but not quite.

"That would be...ok," She said, reassuring him. "We could do that some time, maybe. We'll have to let Langford know beforehand so he can spare the extra man and if we go somewhere in Greentown one of the Network guys can drive and we can pick you up on the way. Save you some fuel."

Sportacus couldn't hide the fact that he was completely taken aback by Robyn's acceptance of his offer and the way she'd suggested picking him up on their way to wherever they decided to go. He'd never expected this and struggled to contain his burgeoning excitement and natural reflex to hug her.

Knowing that if he stayed any longer he could end up pushing her away, he stood up to leave. Robyn made to move to stop him and he figured that he'd picked the right time to go, she'd said all she'd needed to say and he'd gotten everything off his chest. Resisting the urge to give her a kiss goodbye he walked over the front door but stopped short of opening it when he heard his name being said. Turning back he saw Robyn was now standing, her hands clasped together.

Folding and unfolding her hands, an action that showed she was intensely uncomfortable about what she was going to say, Robyn broke the silence. "There's something you need to know."

Frowning at Robyn's seeming reluctance to broach the subject that she'd brought up, Sportacus walked back to the sofa and sat down in the place he had just vacated – causing Robyn to sit down also. Nodding slightly he indicated to her that it was ok for her to continue.

By now a small group had assembled at the bench on which Doctor Cole and Kit were seated. They stood silent, looking at the house they knew Sportacus was in. His arrival in town hadn't gone unnoticed and each of them had their own qualms about his presence.

Especially with him being alone with Robyn.

Trixie shook her head and stamped her foot on the ground, hard. This sudden movement caused her companions to look at her sharply and she mouthed a silent apology before shaking her head again and sighing.

"This is stupid! Why are we all scared to go in there? What is it we're waiting for exactly?" Trixie sighed again, her tone one of annoyance.

Stephanie shrugged, "I don't know. Nothing bad is happening in there though, right?"

"We haven't heard anything," Stingy joined, "Maybe they're just talking...or she's strangled him."

Several people in the group looked at Stingy in surprise while others rolled their eyes but they all hoped he wasn't right, about Robyn strangling Sportacus at least.

"Maybe I can go in there and say I'm looking for a lollipop I'm sure I put down somewhere?" Ziggy suggested tentatively.

Kit nodded but then shook his head, "It wouldn't work,"

"Why not?" Ziggy asked a little disappointed that his suggestion had been refused.

"Because you haven't set foot in that house since before we moved back in there after the Network had to clean up Morgan's attempt to redecorate the living room and a lot longer before that."

"Oh yeah," Ziggy nodded, he'd tried though and he was satisfied with that.

Suddenly a thought popped up in Kit's head that almost made his heart stop dead, "Stephanie," he uttered shakily.

"Hmm?" Came the reply, almost as cautious as Kit's voice had sounded.

"How long do you think Robbie is going to stay with Pixel looking at his computers at your place? Because he comes out and sees Sportacus is here and in our house..."

"It won't be Robyn that strangles Sportacus, it'll be him." Stingy finished, his mouth suddenly incredibly dry.

Just as Stephanie reached into her bag to pull out her cell phone to tap out a quick text to Pixel to warn him and tell him to stall Robbie from leaving as long as it took for Sportacus to leave town she heard a door opening. It was the front door to her house and she watched in horror as did her companions as Robbie came out.

As his eyes adjusted to the change in light from inside to outside, Robbie noticed the small group in the Town Square. He went to raise his hand to wave at them, puzzled at why they'd all be stood there but stopped when he saw the looks on their faces. Looking just beyond the group he saw a car that he recognised and looking back at the group he saw them all shifting from one foot to the other as if in intense discomfort, their eyes flitting backwards and forwards to a house to his left side.

His house.

Looking at his house and back at the crowd, Robbie's face began to go red with rage. Never more so than we he saw Sportacus step out through the front door.


	9. Chapter 9

Before Sportacus could blink he saw Robbie striding towards him faster than he'd ever seen the man move before, shoulders low and arms swinging high like a deadly pendulum in a violent motion.

_Left, right, left, right, left, right._

Kit jumped from the bench and broke into a run.

Several of the patrolling Network men stopped dead in their tracks as they saw the scene unfolding before them. Sportacus stood stiff as a statue in the doorway to his house, Kit running towards him and Robbie's relentless stride with his arms swinging with the same level of violence that existed in every footstep.

_Left, right, left, right, left, right._

Frantic, he'd started to run. He couldn't let Robbie reach Sportacus but he was much closer to him than he was. Running as fast as he could he made to jump the low wall separating the town square from his house but misjudged it and caught his foot on the edge of the wall as the rest of him was over it. Landing heavily on the ground, stunned from the fall he could only shout for Sportacus to move.

Unaware of what was happening outside until she heard Kit shout and saw Sportacus almost leap back into the house, Robyn stood up from the sofa. She watched as Sportacus tried to close the front door but was thwarted by Robbie barging his way through it, pushing Sportacus out of the way and slamming the door behind him.

"Daddy!" She shouted out of pure instinct, frightened.

"Don't daddy me!" Robbie yelled with a vehemence Robyn had never thought him capable of, "What the hell is _he_ doing here?"

Robyn was stung badly, tears flowed down her cheeks. "We were talking," she sobbed.

Robbie's eyes narrowed, he was too angry to see Robyn's pain. All he could see was betrayal, her betrayal.

"_Talking?_" He hissed with venom.

Robyn could only stand dumb, sobbing. She saw Robbie's eyes move from her to Sportacus, back to her and finally coming to rest on the coffee table that two cups sat on before returning to her with such intense anger that she felt as though she'd just been slapped around the face.

"And having a tea party behind my back! First you choose Lily over me and now you want to choose _him_ over _me_? After everything he's done to you, to us, you bring him here, into _my_ house? You know what? I'm sick of you, I'm sick of your lies! Get out! Get out of here!" Robbie roared as he threw open the door and swung his arm in an unmistakeable gesture for Robyn to leave quickly.

Tears blurring her vision and violent sobs rocking her body, stealing every breath she took so she couldn't exhale, Robyn was frozen to the spot but suddenly burst through the front door when Robbie took a threatening step towards her. Sportacus went to make after her, ignoring his obvious peril from Robbie but was intercepted by Langford who grabbed Robyn with one hand and held up his other hand to Sportacus, palm turned outward, telling him not to interfere.

Langford kept a tight hold on Robyn who was struggling against him, trying to break free as two of his men separated Robbie and Sportacus. One pulled Sportacus from the house and began to walk him back to his car as another man pushed Robbie further inside and closed the door behind him.

Robyn's struggles were beginning to weaken Langford's grip on her and two more of his men stepped forward to assist him but he shook his head. Readjusting his grip on the hysterical girl he picked her up off the ground, her legs kicking in the air as she tried to fight her way back to her house. He began to walk with her, his gait awkward in compensation for the struggling of Robyn. Every now and again he would set her back on her feet momentarily to readjust his grip then sweep her up again as he made his way to his car. When he got to it he set her on her feet once more so that he could reach in his pocket for his keys.

As one of Langford's hands dropped from her, Robyn surged forward. She had to get back to the house, she had to see Robbie, she had to explain. Langford's other hand was pulled from her as she made the sudden movement but was suddenly replaced by both of his hands as he regained his clamp like grip on her.

"No! No! No!" Robyn screamed as Langford bundled her into the back of his car, the door held open by another of his men.

Langford took hold of the car door and closed it tightly, safe in the knowledge that it could only be opened from the outside and quickly got into the driver's seat. Without fastening his seat belt his started the engine and sped off, passing Sportacus as he stood against his car, Robyn gazing at him from over the back seat.

Sportacus sunk to the ground at the sight that bore incredible similarity to the day that Mr Snail had come to take Robyn away to the orphanage.


	10. Chapter 10

They sat a table in what had been a busy cafe. The fact that most of the patrons had gotten up and left as they'd entered and found a table hadn't escaped Langford and he sat looking around him at the remaining patrons, furtively looking up every now and then before trying to look like they were focussing on their food and drinks. No one spoke.

"Believe it or not, this happens a lot. It's normal for me really." Robyn said, breaking the silence. The first time she'd spoken since Langford had put her in the car.

Stopping his stationary exploration of the room and looking across the table he looked at Robyn with an expression that asked her to elaborate.

"As I'm sure you've noticed I bear a rather striking resemblance to Lily. People here in town think that I'm her. When we first met you questioned me, you asked me where Lily's hide out was but I wouldn't tell you. I didn't tell you because I knew it would be pointless you going there, she'd have moved on the minute she realised that Morgan had helped me escape and go back to Lazytown. You'd never have been able to trace her."

Langford took in the information Robyn had given him and sat silent. When questioning Robyn on their first meeting he'd been annoyed at her refusal to give him the information he was under strict orders to obtain. As far as he'd been concerned Robyn's reluctance to give him even the faintest clue of Lily's whereabouts had been an attempt to protect her mother. Thinking back he realised it was this assumption that had soured his view of the woman he sat across the table from. Now she'd explained her actions on that day he had to think. Had he been unfair?

At least Robyn seemed calmer now. It had taken some time for her crying to subside and as ill equipped as he was in dealing with female emotions he had felt quite helpless. He'd driven for as long as he could stand listening to her sobs but eventually gave up and pulled the car over on the edge of what he'd read on a sign to be a town called Crazytown. Not knowing what else to do he'd gotten out of the car and climbed into the back seat, leaving the door slightly ajar so he could get out again. At first Robyn had looked at him, her eyes revealing the questions playing across her mind. He'd watched her confusion dwindle and as if by instinct he'd opened his arms inviting her to seek comfort from him. She'd cautiously accepted his invitation and buried her head in his chest. He'd closed his arms gently around her and they'd stayed there like that until she'd gone quiet and started to pull away.

Clearing his throat and breaking his reminiscing, Langford looked around the room again. "I don't think I'm going to ask why there's a horse in here." He stated, breaking the renewed silence.

"This _is_ Crazytown. Believe it or not, that's normal too."

"Hmph," Langford snorted and proceeded to finger the sandwich that had been placed in front of him by a waitress that quickly scuttled away after putting his plate of food down.

He was sure it wasn't what he'd ordered but bearing in mind he'd given his order to a woman who seemed obsessed with Geese flying backwards he had to admit he wasn't at all surprised. Satisfying himself that the odd looking sandwich wasn't going to get up and walk away he gingerly started to peel back the top layer of bread but stopped as soon as he saw something very unwelcome staring back at him. Retching he dropped the top layer of bread back down and pushed the plate away from him with such force that it and its contents would have landed in Robyn's lap had she not caught it.

Startled by Langford's extreme reaction to the contents of his sandwich, Robyn pulled back the top layer of bread and put it down very quickly as she screwed her face up at what she'd seen. Relaxing her face slightly as an idea struck her, she completely removed the top layer of the sandwich which prompted Langford to retch again but she ignored it.

Staring up at her from the sandwich was a collection of what looked like fish eyes.

Langford continued to retch as he watched Robyn tentatively pick one of the eyes off the sandwich and cautiously put it in her mouth. He almost fell off his chair when she relaxed her face completely and smiled.

"It's ok," She said pushing the plate back towards him causing him to retch more violently, "They're only candy eyes. You can try – oh"

Robyn broke off when she realised that trying one would probably send Langford into a sugar meltdown. For his part he was looking at her as though she'd just grown another head.

"There's a lot they didn't tell me about you," Langford breathed with a tinge of what could almost be mistaken as awe.

Initially confused by the tone of Langford's voice when he spoke, Robyn realised why he seemed so surprised. He didn't know about her resistance to sugar.

"In fairness there's a lot the Network probably don't know about me so they couldn't tell you." Robyn explained.

Still slightly stunned, Langford nodded and made a mental note to try and find out from Robyn the things the Network had neglected to tell him about her. If he was going to fully understand her he was going to have to get to know the woman he and his men were protecting a lot better.

As if picking up on Langford's thoughts Robyn continued, "When we first met you called me a liability. At the time I was angry but you were right, I am a liability. I should have told you where Lily was hiding. You might have found her and been able to capture her. She's gone for now but she will be back. If you think you might be able to trace her somehow I can take you to her hide out now, we're not far from there. I know where it is."

Now in a similar state to how he'd been when Robyn had eaten what he now knew to be a candy fish eye, Langford nearly toppled over again but gathered his senses and unzipping his jacket, reached for his phone. He tapped a number into it as he mouthed a hushed thank you to Robyn. After two rings his call was answered.

"I'm ok. Robyn's given me some information we need to act upon immediately, she knows where Lily's hide out is and she's going to take me there. Do you have my co-ordinates? Good, meet us here and Robyn will show us the way. Bring two vehicles, we might need backup."

Robyn watched as Langford placed his phone back into the inside pocket of his jacket and zipped it back up. He was pleased but she only hoped she was doing the right thing and was right that Lily wasn't in town anymore.


	11. Chapter 11

Having been checked over by Doctor Cole and given the ok to get up, Kit stood and brushed himself down. He was deeply shaken by the events that he and his friends had helplessly watched unfolding, unable to do anything to stop them.

They'd heard the shouting, Robyn's cries as she'd tried to plead with one of the men she'd loved most in the world and the hate spat back at her like liquid fire in return. None of the people that had known Robbie most of their life had ever expected him to speak to or act like that towards her and it had left them intensely shocked. Never had they thought him capable of anger of that magnitude and they hoped to be party to anything like it again.

As far as Kit was concerned, he had two choices. Confront Robbie and make him face up to what he'd done or slope off and like his wounds while he waited for Langford to come back with Robyn.

'If he comes back with her,' Kit thought, temporarily worried that he had no idea whether Langford was just another Elias.

Shaking this unlikely and all too unwelcome doubt from his mind he started to walk towards the house. He had more important things to worry about.

Rather than just let himself into the home he shared with Robbie and Robyn, Kit knocked on the door. After a moment he heard a voice on the other side of the door that he guessed belonged to the Network officer that had helped separate Sportacus and Robbie. After explaining who he was and asking to be let in, the door opened.

After entering the house, Kit closed the door behind him. The Network officer had moved away from the door slightly and was stood nearer the door to the downstairs bathroom. Kit couldn't say he recognised this man as one of the ones Robyn had had as a guardian but then everyone in town was finding it hard to get used to all of the new faces they'd seen recently.

Kit smiled a greeting to the man and was surprised to receive one back. It struck him that Langford's men couldn't have been further removed from Elias' but then he put that down more to the difference of personality to their leader. Everyone he'd met so far that had guarded Robyn had been polite, friendly and interacted with her. For the most part they'd tried to make her feel as at ease as they could with their presence and given her a reasonable degree of space when she needed it but all the while maintaining their watch on her.

Without a word the Network officer eased himself past Robbie's chair and the grief stricken Robbie sat within it and entered the kitchen. He would leave the house when he'd been notified that Sportacus had left town but for now he'd give the older and younger man some privacy.

A team of Langford's men had notified him that they were on their way to his position, they'd be fifteen minutes and he decided he'd take this time to talk more with Robyn.

"I freely admit," He began, making sure he had Robyn's attention. "That I misunderstood you to a certain degree on our first meeting and allowed it to cloud my judgment of you. I called you a liability and though I won't deny I still think you are a liability, I believe I should really have taken more of an opportunity to get to know you better. I also admit that I've been harsh towards you even despite everything I've come to understand you've been through recently."

"You came into this job or mission, whatever you want to call it, at a rough time. You hadn't fully known what to expect and Elias had made a pretty big mess of things." Robyn replied.

Shaking his head, Langford continued. "That doesn't excuse the way I acted towards you and in all fairness how I've proceeded to act towards you. This probably the first time we've spoken properly in the time we've known each other. Though I know it doesn't change how we've both been towards one another, or will make us friends, I'd like to suggest that we attempt to start off on a clean slate."

Robyn smiled, it seemed as good an idea as any and she shook the hand that Langford had held out for her as he suggested starting afresh.

Thinking of something, Robyn smiled again, "Does this mean we can negotiate on the supervision arrangements you've made for me?"

Langford shot Robyn a look that said, 'don't push it.'


	12. Chapter 12

Robbie was well aware that Kit had entered the house. He sat with his face buried in his hands, waiting for Kit's response to the way he had acted towards Robyn. If the response was to be a violent one he was sure that the hurt he'd already inflicted on himself would dull any pain that the blows he was sure Kit would rain down upon him might cause.

He heard one of the others in the room move away and guessed it was the Network officer that had been with him, watching him as he had sunk to his knees as the force of the anger Robyn had bore the brunt of had burnt through him like an inferno and shame had crashed over him like a tidal wave. It was the same officer that had helped him up from the floor, wordlessly helping him back into his chair. He'd heard Robyn's shouts not long after and every 'no' she had screamed had sent the sharp barbs of realisation with the poison tip of reason tearing through his soul.

Despite the way he'd acted towards her, she'd still wanted to come back to him.

Feeling someone sit on the arm of his chair and wrap their arms around him, Robbie buried his face deeper into his hands. Kit was trying to comfort him.

"I just hope you're satisfied with what you've done," Robbie heard Kit whisper to him in a tone that was neither one of anger or disappointment but strangely tender, "She's been back three weeks and you've probably done enough for her to want to go away again forever now."

Muffled by his hands, Robbie's voice sounded hoarse as he spoke, "Why are you being like this? Why aren't you angry?"

Kit looked up and closed his eyes, sighing. "Don't you think we've all torn enough strips off each other already, Robbie? All of this fighting and hurt has to end somewhere and did you never consider that it was Robyn that was trying to stop it? You, me, Nine and let's be honest, most of the town – Robyn's stuck in the middle of all of it, all of the mudslinging against Sportacus. She's trying to find a way to move on and accept everything that's come out of the woodwork in the last few months. We might not agree with her choices but we don't have to, all we have to do is support her. If we keep fighting we're not doing that and things are only going to get worse. She needs our help, Robbie. Just because she's trying to let Sportacus back into her life, even by a tiny amount, it doesn't mean you have to be his best friend again or even be civil to him. You don't even have to forget everything that's happened or forgive him; you just have to be there for Robyn."

Robbie heard every word that Kit had said and they gradually began to sink in. He understood now why Robyn had brought Sportacus into their house and he admonished himself for allowing his deep seated rage overtake him and scorch whatever tenuous link he still had with Robyn. He ripped his hands from his face and shifted violently so he could look at Kit as what he'd said to him about Robyn possibly wanting to leave and for good came back to haunt him.

"Where is she?" He begged, his voice still hoarse.

"It's ok, Langford stopped her running off. He stuffed her in a car and took her somewhere. He was driving towards the tunnel but that's all I know. Wherever she is, I'm sure she's safe."

If Kit had known exactly where Robyn was going with Langford, he wouldn't have felt so sure.

They drove silently through the streets, two vehicles all filled with four men following a third one in which sat a man and a woman. Everyone in the vehicles scanned the scenery that rolled past them, rows of houses with no signs of life inside or outside of them, an eerie testament to a part of town that seemed almost frozen in time but had in fact been abandoned. Neither of the drivers in the two vehicles following the lead car knew when they'd been stopping but they were prepared for what had been forewarned may be a sudden halt.

"We're here," Robyn said suddenly, prompting Langford to flash his hazard lights twice and stop the car.

Following Langford's signal, the vehicle behind him did the same to alert the rear vehicle that they'd reached their destination.

Getting out of the car first, Langford let Robyn out of the car and watched her as she moved around the car to stand facing the imposing structure that stood before them. He could hear the other men exiting their vehicles and their footsteps as they joined Robyn on the pavement.

"Is anyone here?" One of the men asked Robyn, knowing that she'd be more aware of anyone's presence than they were.

Reaching out with her senses, Robyn scanned the house and shook her head in the negative. There was no one in the house or any of the houses on the street. They were alone.

Noting that Robyn had indicated that there was no one in the house Langford voiced a concern that had dawned upon him, "Is there any way that Lily would be able to hide herself from you?"

Having never thought of this before, Robyn couldn't answer him.


	13. Chapter 13

"What do you think we should do, Sir?" Of the Network officers asked Langford having seen Robyn's reaction to the question.

Langford joined his men at the pavement and passing through the group came to stand in front of them, "We go in. If Lily is in there she'll have seen us already, there's no use calling for backup. Grant, have you got your A/V gear with you?"

The aforementioned Grant nodded and returned to his vehicle where he opened the rear door and pulled out a bag. Robyn watched him as he opened the bag and pulled out a headset with a microphone that he then put on before attaching a small monitor to his belt and plugged a thin wire into it which he connected a pair of plastic glasses to.

"Eyes and ears, seeing and hearing." Grant said as he put the glasses on and switched on the monitor that showed an image of the group of people stood in front of him.

Langford smiled, "Good, headquarters will want evidence that we've been in here and whatever happens. Record everything regardless of how minor it seems. We can't afford to miss anything." Langford turned back to face Robyn, "How many floors does this place have?"

"Four," She replied after thinking a moment, "Ground floor, first floor, attic and basement."

Langford absorbed the information and turned to his men, "Right. Toksvig, Leka take the first floor. Nielsen, Salonen you go with them and search the attic. Orucov, Peters you take basement. Balodis, you're with me and Robyn; we'll take the ground floor. Everyone keeps radio contact and shout when you know your area is clear. Search every room and gather whatever evidence you can find, Grant will be going between you and recording. If everywhere is clear, we'll regroup back here and go back to Lazytown. If not... Just be careful."

Having received their orders, Langford's men paired themselves with their designated partners and followed Langford up the path leading towards the house. They all stopped as he tore the yellow tape from the door and pushed it open.

"Weapons out." He said as he stepped over the threshold and unclipped his baton from its holster, flipping it down sharply so it extended to its full length.

As each of the men entered the house they did as ordered, taking in the grimness of the house as they did so. It seemed every conceivable surface was covered with dust and a musty smell filled their nostrils. It was slightly dark inside but not enough to completely compromise visibility. Having reached the stairs midway down the entrance corridor on the left Toksvig, Salonen, Nielsen and Leka climbed them up to the first floor. Grant opened a door to his right and entered, it was empty and he turned full circle as he recorded the fact with his camera.

Indicating to Robyn to show them which door led to the basement, Orucov and Peters followed her pointing finger and opened the second door on the right and disappeared through it as they entered the basement. At a nod from Langford, Grant followed them.

Balodis positioned himself in front of Robyn as Langford stood behind her and they began to search the ground floor. Balodis proceeded down the corridor, past the basement door and pushed open a door nestled behind an alcove. Indicating that it was clear he moved on and opened the door that Robyn knew to belong to the kitchen. He passed through the door and entered the kitchen.

He saw the outline of someone, or what was left of them, lying on the floor at the same time as he heard a sharp intake of breath come from Robyn.

Intense agony had torn through Robyn as soon as she'd set foot in the kitchen. Her whole body bent double as natural reaction to the pain and her lungs seemed to spasm as she tried to breathe. She could hear screaming as her body began to go into violent convulsions, forcing her to the ground. A knife was being thrust into her, into every part of her body. She could feel the blood escaping the ragged wounds the knife left behind.

Grant couldn't help but film what was happening, his camera was fixed on Robyn as his eyes watched Balodis and Langford trying to work out what was going on with her. He'd been coming up the stairs as Robyn had gasped and thinking that the trio had found something knew his responsibility to be there to film it. He'd never expected to see anything like he was now witnessing.

Too many thoughts and questions were running around in Langford's head for him to be able to find any scrap of logic left that would lead him to action. He'd seen Robyn freeze at the point she'd gasped and tried to catch her before she fell. He'd knelt down beside her convulsing body and was now dumbstruck at the pain he could see written almost into every cell that made up her face.

"He was..." They heard Robyn gasp in a voice full of torture, "he was a neighbour...he came to see...he heard Lily yell when she found...when she found Morgan had gone with me...he came in...Lily killed him...Lily killed him."

Finally something broke through to Langford's senses and he looked up at a shell shocked Balodis, "We have to get her out of here, _now_!"

Having been brought back to reason, Balodis nodded and helped Langford pick up the writhing Robyn. Pushing past the still filming Grant they took her outside and felt her body begin to relax as they laid her on the pavement.

Robyn fell unconscious as she saw two pairs of black boots come running into her field of vision.


	14. Chapter 14

It was the strangest sensation. She was floating in the air and looking down she could see her body. She'd done this before many times but this time it felt different. She wasn't in control but strangely it didn't seem to matter. It felt as though everything she had cared about had remained with her body and it seemed almost funny to her as she saw one of the men surrounding it doing something to her chest while another looked as though he was intermittently kissing her. She smiled as she continued to float upwards, the further from her body she became the more right it felt. She could hear nothing of what the men below her said but one of them was shouting into something, gesturing frantically at her body. It just didn't matter to her.

As if out of nowhere another man appeared, wearing a coat and wide brimmed hat. He looked at her body before turning his eyes upwards and looking directly at her. Something about this man felt different, he wasn't like the others.

She floated higher away from him and could hear voices calling her as he seemed as trapped on the ground as her body.

She'd hardly registered that the actions of the men doing things to her body seemed to get more desperate as the shouting man became more frantic. She was sure it would have mattered. Another man came but she didn't care. It looked as though he'd passed straight through the hat wearing man who was still looking at her as he walked quickly towards her body and knelt beside it. The new man had something with him that had long things attached to it when he opened it and two funny shaped things that she would have recognised.

It didn't matter.

The man wearing the hat and coat spoke and strangely she could hear his words, "Come back Robyn! Come back!"

Robyn? That word seemed familiar. The voices she was getting ever closer to were calling her that as well their tone was soothing while the man in the hat's voice seemed harsh. None of the people surrounding her body seemed to be able to hear him.

"Robyn! Come back! Don't listen to them! Come back!"

She watched as the new man took out two coloured shapes and placed them on her body's chest. He took the funny shaped things and placed them on her chest as well. She saw her back arch and seemed to feel something that passed as swiftly as an eye blinks.

It still didn't seem to matter.

"Robyn! You have to come back! Kit needs you! Robbie needs you! Sportacus needs you! They all need you!"

Something about the names the man in hat and coat had called out seemed to mean something to her. Her progress upwards seemed to halt as she saw her body's back arch once again.

"Don't let them win, don't let the voices take you!"

The new man seemed to point and shout something at another. As he was handed something long and slender with a point to end of it she felt herself floating downwards. The voices that she'd heard above her now seemed to be all around her, their calming tones now turned to ones of anger.

"Keep coming Robyn, don't let them stop you!" The man in the hat and coat shouted.

She became frightened as hundreds of hands appeared and were joined with expressionless masks with hollow eyes. The hands were reaching out for her, trying to grab her as she continued to float downwards. The new man held the pointy object high up and seemed to measure three finger spaces on her body's chest and brought it down hard thrusting it into her heart... just as one of the pairs of hands grabbed her.


	15. Chapter 15

"Did you see her?" A voice called out as he passed through the room his housemate was seated in and disappeared into the kitchen.

Sportacus shook his head to himself in answer, he'd seen her and though his and his daughter's dialogue had far surpassed his basest expectations things hadn't ended in any vestige of a way he could have imagined. He relived Robbie's anger in his mind, the harrowing scene of Robyn struggling against Langford as he'd been led away and the horror that had momentarily stopped his heart at being faced with one of his most painful memories. He sighed loudly as he tried to remove the cloying feeling of despondency at having no idea where she was and being escorted back to the home he now shared with an unexpected friend.

He'd met Kathleen at a food shop in Greentown and had remembered her from the nursing team that had helped Robyn before and after her surgery for her Epilepsy. She'd recognised him too and even though they knew little of each other she'd offered him a listening ear and they'd met again two days later for lunch. As he'd recounted his ordeal over the last weeks the flood gates had opened and he'd told her everything about his fights with Robyn, her disappearing and his failure to stop her, Lily attacking him and coming very close to taking his only daughter away for good. Kathleen had listened to everything and having heard Sportacus tell her where he was currently residing she'd insisted that he come and stay with her until his new airship was ready.

It had been difficult at first for Sportacus to accept Kathleen's charity but he'd eventually agreed. He'd also come to realise quite quickly that Kathleen's offer of a place to stay hadn't been entirely selfless. Her original housemate had moved out suddenly following the revelation that Lily had been working at the hospital under the guise of Ellen and had feared a reprisal following having an argument with the woman and accusing her of misconduct. She'd not admitted it to herself at first but she'd become lonely and had her own misgivings about living alone in a house that Lily had once visited.

Kathleen got up from her place on the sofa after Sportacus had failed to emerge from the kitchen and joined him. He was stood facing the window, head down and shoulders hunched arms ram rod straight as his white knuckled hands clung to the edge of the sink. Concerned for her friend and the state of his relationship with his daughter she walked over to him and slowly placed a hand on his shoulder.

Sportacus tilted his head towards Kathleen as she spoke, "I saw her. She made me coffee and we talked, she apologised for everything she'd done. She accepted my offer to take her to dinner too. She seemed surprised at first but even offered to pick me up if we went to Greentown."

Kathleen was stunned, "Wow, I never would have expected that. Not this soon, that's a big milestone. If it went so well why are you so unhappy?"

"Robbie burst in just as I was leaving," Sportacus sighed, "He was furious that I was there but it wasn't me he was mad at. He yelled at Robyn and called her a liar, he told her to get out."

"Oh my god! Where's Robyn now? What happened?"

"She ran out of the house, Langford grabbed her and took her away in the car somewhere. I got escorted home in my car by one of the Network men not long after that. I don't know where she is or how she is."

Kathleen nodded and silently hoped that Robyn would be ok. The young woman had been through a lot and she hoped that this turn of events wouldn't drive her over the edge on which she'd spent so long teetering.

Robyn sat bolt upright as she took heaving gasps for air, refilling her lungs, her eyes and mouth open wide. She fell back almost as quickly as she had risen but a folded up coat had been pushed quickly in the space her head had occupied to keep it from striking the hard concrete when it returned. As she laid flat her eyes fluttered closed until she felt a hand brush back her hair from her face. Her eyes opened slowly and she saw Doctor Malone looking down at her.

"You'll be ok now," He said, panting slightly as if he'd experienced some exertion, "We very nearly didn't get you back."

Robyn smiled as she remembered and her eyes looked up to where she'd been, "I was up there. I could see you. You brought me back, thank you."

Doctor Malone looked at Langford as Robyn had spoken, "It's not me you need to thank, it's this gentleman here. Nothing I've done would have been any use if he hadn't acted as quickly. He and his men all helped you and I hope they're proud as they certainly should be. At any rate, we need to take you to the hospital and make sure everything is ok. All being well, you'll be out tomorrow morning and we'll just keep you in for observation tonight. My only immediate concern is how long you were without a proper supply of oxygen, you seem ok but given your history I'd quite like to give you a CAT scan."

For once, Robyn made no objection to going to hospital as an ambulance arrived and she was lifted onto a stretcher which made Doctor Malone question momentarily whether any damage had been done. Shaking his head and dismissing the thought with a smirk he climbed into the ambulance before the doors were closed behind him and it drove off.

Langford stood silent, observing Robyn being put into the back of the ambulance and it leaving until a voice broke his reverie.

"Orders, Sir?" Orucov had said.

"We head back to town," Langford answered as he faced his men, "Peters, go with Toksvig and drive the Doctor's car to the hospital and stay there with Robyn. Report back every hour until we know what's going on and let us know immediately if anything changes. Make it clear to the staff that you're not going anywhere until Robyn is discharged, whether you're there out of visiting hours or not. As soon as we get back to town I'll let her family know what's happened and bring them up to you. Grant, compile what you've recorded and send it with a report to headquarters. Include everything. They'll know if anything is missing or has been edited and it's likely to have them throwing accusations around.

With the same smoothness at which they'd carried out their original mission, Langford's men embarked on their new one. Though Peters was looking forward in some way to his next task, Toksvig most certainly wasn't.


	16. Chapter 16

Kit looked up from the spot he'd focussed his attention on as conversation between him and Robbie had dried up and both men had allowed themselves to slip into their own thoughts. A wry smile touched his lips as he got up and walked over to the kitchen and he observed the Network officer stood at the sink, bright yellow rubber gloves pulled up to his elbows and hands submerged in warm soapy water. Kit's coming into the kitchen hadn't gone unnoticed and the Network officer looked at him sheepishly before continuing on with the small job he'd given himself. He finished washing up and rinsing the plates beneath the water and placed them on the drainer to dry. It hadn't escaped Kit's notice that this wasn't the first piece of housework the Network officer had completed in the kitchen.

"We should have you here every day. I don't think the kitchen's been this clean in a long time, you ever thought of doing this full time? I'd hire you," Kit joked, the smile still fixed on his lips.

Again Kit's smile was returned and the Network officer removed the rubber gloves, "On the odd occasion but it doesn't quite have the same level of variety as this job. To be honest, nothing could have more variety than this assignment."

"Oh yeah, you could say that. You guys have started with moving a beheaded leader, taken over from most of Elias' guys, made your own base out of two of the empty houses, spent hours interrogating Robyn, caused Nine to fly off home in a huff and sent Ché off as well all while watching the fireworks that have been going off lately. I can't say that I envy you being stuck on the fringes of all this but at least I guess when it's all blown over you can go home and onto your next assignment. What do we call you anyway?"

The Network officer was about to answer when a loud knock on the front door interrupted him and in walked Langford. Having acknowledged a silent gesture that he was fine to leave, the Network officer smiled goodbye to Kit and nodded a goodbye to Robbie whose features were marred with concern for the fact that it appeared Langford had returned to the house alone.

What had seemed like a long day had drawn into what it felt like was going to be a long night for Toksvig. No matter how hard he'd tried he hadn't been able to hide his disdain at having been assigned to supervising Robyn at the hospital on his and Peters' drive over. He wanted to back in Lazytown on patrol and couldn't count the amount of times he'd swapped his supervisory roles with his comrades to patrol the town instead. He also couldn't count the amount of times he'd asked Langford for a transfer to another team and been turned down. It had come as a surprise to him that he was the only one who had voiced any objections to protecting a girl he had no care for.

'If Lily's going to kill her she might as well hurry up and get it over with so we can go home. I don't know why Langford had to waste his time bringing her back, the silly bitch might still be dead on the cold concrete right now if he'd just left her. Can't say it's more than she deserves.' He thought to himself as he looked over at the sleeping girl on the bed in the hospital room he was now sat in.

As if she'd heard him say the words out loud, Robyn stirred. Without opening her eyes she turned her head on the pillow so she was facing Toksvig who was sat with Peters at the foot of her bed. Her eyes opened and Toksvig felt as though they were burning a hole right the way through him. He was transfixed by the darkness he could see in what he remembered to be light blue orbs as she'd pushed herself into a sitting position so she could see him better.

She'd picked up on his thoughts.

Langford remained standing as Kit resumed his seat on the sofa. On the drive back to town he'd questioned himself on how he was going to break the news of the recent developments to the two men he had no doubt would be the most greatly affected by it. He knew that Kit had a temper and was prone to outbursts but given Robbie's actions earlier he couldn't expect a calm reception from him either. Knowing full well that the people in Lazytown had been slow to show any trust in his men he'd come to the uncomfortable conclusion that absolute transparency was the only foreseeable option and it was in keeping with this philosophy that he began to fill the two men in on every tiny detail.

He only wondered what reaction he'd get from telling Robyn's brother what had happened. It wasn't an appealing prospect but Morgan had as much right to know what had happened as anyone else.

Peters had detected the sudden change in atmosphere in the room as Robyn had stirred. He'd felt the air become considerably oppressive and that feeling intensified as Robyn woke up and sat staring at Toksvig. Looking from Robyn to his partner he realised that Toksvig had to have forgotten the girl's ability to read thoughts and let his dislike of her shine through them.

"You might as well say out loud what you were thinking." Robyn purred, "It's no good trying to hide it."

Toksvig licked his lips nervously. He just couldn't translate his thoughts into words.

"Get out!" Robyn warned her voice low and dangerous. "Get out before I throw you out!"

Peters watched in surprise as Toksvig needed no second invitation to leave the room and abandoned his post at speed. He was still staring at the door that Toksvig had passed through when he became intensely aware that Robyn had turned her attention to him.

"You too." He'd heard her hiss as without any control of his faculties he stood and walked through the door which promptly slammed behind him.

Robyn's anger subsided as soon as the link between her and Peters had been cut off and she drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and hugging them close she buried her face into them. She didn't hear the door open, nor did she hear the silent footsteps of the person that almost glided across the room to her and touched her on the cheek.

Startled, Robyn's legs dropped back onto the bed and she turned quickly to face the person that had touched her.

"Lucien," She said, barely able to raise her voice above a whisper.


	17. Chapter 17

His enigmatic smile lit up his chiselled features as a soft chuckle made his eyes glitter. He was glad that she wasn't prone to hypnotic suggestion; he would have hated her to forget him. To forget what they had shared. He hadn't forgotten her either or what he'd nearly done to her and the sparkle in his eyes faded with an emotion that had almost become entirely alien to him in his two thousand years of life.

Regret.

Looking at her now, in those sky blue eyes he'd lost himself in when he'd had the pleasure of sharing her company on their first meeting, he could see a tinge of fear. Its origin puzzled him. She couldn't have known what he'd intended to do to her the last night he'd seen her. She'd been unconscious as he'd held her firmly in his arms, his fangs aching to tear into her slender neck and drink the sweet nectar that flowed in her veins. There was no way she could have known so why were his eyes telling him that she was afraid of him?

Her eyes followed his face as he seated himself on the edge of her bed and his nostrils flared as her sweet scent assaulted his senses and he felt himself become aroused. He closed his eyes as his arousal awoke the Vampire within him and they turned amber behind their lids. A hand touching his cheek opened his now amber eyes and he felt the hand being quickly drawn away.

With his preternatural speed he grasped her hand before it had disappeared from his reach entirely and raised it to his lips.

A shiver of desire swept over Robyn as LaCroix's lips brushed her hand. He'd detected it and she could tell that he felt the same as she. She allowed him to bring one of his strong arms around her shoulder and draw her nearer to him. She felt his weight on the mattress shift as he pushed himself back further towards the middle of the bed and pulled her so she was almost sitting on his lap. She could feel his eyes caressing her as he reacquainted himself with every visible inch of her porcelain skin. Everything was as he remembered it until his eyes found the two inch scar on her neck just shy of her jugular vein.

LaCroix's eyes turned from amber to red as his top lip curled into a snarl and his fangs descended. With his free hand he tilted Robyn's head so he could get a better look at the mark that defiled her once flawless flesh. Someone had violated her and he wanted to know who.

"What's this?" He growled, running his ice cold fingers over the scar as if to confirm that what his eyes had tried to fool him with was real.

"It happened when I came back here. Elias, the man that took me from the club the night we last saw each other, he threatened my life. He was in league with my mother. He set someone up for a murder that he'd committed and I found out. I revealed his guilt and to thank he me held a gun to my head...this scar is the result of someone saving my life and ending his."

"_Who did this_?" LaCroix snarled as his anger continued to grow but on hearing Robyn's words it deserted him entirely and his cold blood seemed to freeze within him.

"My brother,"

Cain was dead. He knew that because it was he that had slain the hideous creature that had raped the innocent girl who had reawakened the love he'd felt for Fleur. The only mortal he had loved since Fleur and couldn't force himself to admit that he loved more than the precious soul that had touched him so deeply, eight hundred years before. It was Cain's blood that had filled him with the irresistible hunger to bring Robyn over to become his eternal lover, a hunger that had never left him and forced him to seek her out. It was Cain's neck that he had snapped like a twig with his hands, his need for retribution satisfied but yet it was Robyn's brother that had inflicted this almost mortal wound upon her.

"It wasn't Cain," Robyn breathed, calming the storm raging in LaCroix's mind. "I have a twin. It was him that killed Elias and in doing so nearly killed me but that was an accident. He didn't mean to harm me."

LaCroix's hand turned Robyn's head back to face him, his eyes their mortal colour met hers as they confirmed what she had told him. Accident or not she had nearly been taken from him and he could not allow that. He knew not what had led to her being in the hospital room he was now sitting with her in but it didn't matter to him. Her existence on this planet seemed so tenuous and he vowed never to be parted from her again as he pulled her so she was sitting fully on his lap with her back against his chest and he once again tilted her head to expose her neck.

His lips placed a kiss upon it before running his tongue along its length. Drawing his head back he allowed his fangs to grow before burying them in her throat.


	18. Chapter 18

Morgan uncomfortably shifted his position. His last dose of pain relief had worn off and the pain that had dogged him day and night since his mother's attack was beginning to return. It was dark outside and he could hear the low hum of a television, the sounds on it indistinct but audible. He knew what would be coming soon, the lady with the blue hair bringing him some supper on a tray that she would hand to the guard who sat in the room watching him. The guard would then place it on a small table by the bed, staying always just out of arm's reach. If he made even a minor movement while the woman was in the room or the guard was close by he recognised that the charity bestowed on him could be taken away rapidly and the consequences of which were unknown to him.

Once or twice the man he knew to be the Mayor had come into the room and instead of addressing only the guard like the woman with blue hair did he addressed him directly. Their conversations had been brief and somewhat strained but he had enjoyed the human contact which made a change from the stone like silence that had surrounded him from his guards. As far as he understood it was the Mayor that cooked his meals, generous portions that he had barely been able to finish half of had been piled onto every plate of food brought through to him and the routine each time had been the same. The woman with blue hair bringing in the tray, the guard placing it on the table and when he'd finished it the guard taking it away and handing it to someone outside.

Hearing footsteps approaching he looked at the door which opened and in walked the woman with blue hair, tray in hands. This time however, she brought it straight to him without handing it to the guard first and placed it on the table herself. Keeping his eyes firmly on his guard he watched the man stand as the blue haired woman had walked straight past him. The guard turned to another who had been standing outside the door and was now peering in with an unrecognisable emotion on his face.

Having placed the tray down the blue haired woman turned to the guards and asked one of them to bring her in a chair so that she could sit down. The guard that had been standing outside moved off to do as he had been asked and returned quickly with the chair he had been asked to fetch.

"Thank you," She said as the chair was placed down and she sat upon it. "You can go now,"

Both guards opened their mouths to object as did two others that entered the room from outside having heard the blue haired woman dismiss the others. All four were silenced by a stern look from the woman that showed she would accept no compromise. After a stern warning that if they heard anything untoward they would be straight back in the room, they left and closed the door behind them.

Morgan was aware that his mouth was hanging open at what had just transpired but he couldn't help it. He could see the blue haired woman smiling slightly at his reaction and he wondered what had triggered this sudden show of warmth to him.

Robyn suppressed a cry as LaCroix's fangs penetrated her throat. She could feel him drawing her blood from her, his grip on her tightening as he became enthralled in its taste. Without warning he tore his fangs from her neck before flying backwards from the bed into the corner of the room, sending Robyn crashing to cold hard floor.

LaCroix's breath came in rasps as he slumped into the corner and sank to the floor, what blood remaining in his mouth running down his chin. Robyn's blood had been sweet but as he'd drunk it he'd begun to see memories of her life in his mind and an intense pain like no other he had ever felt had surged through him. She had suffered so much pain and he felt it within every drop of her blood that was running through his body. He was also acutely aware that despite their tenuous connection and the distance between them his children would know exactly what he'd just done. As if in answer to this realisation he felt a vibration on the thread of his connection with Janette and the faintest emotion.

She didn't approve.

Slowly pushing herself up in a sitting position on the floor, Robyn stood unsteadily. Her neck was still burning from where LaCroix's fangs had been torn from it and she could feel faint trickles of blood running down her shoulder. She turned and saw LaCroix watching her from his place in the corner. Walking towards him with a slight limp she knelt down and sat herself in the space between LaCroix's legs and rested her head on his chest. She felt him bend his head down to lick the wounds he'd inflicted on her neck, encouraging them to start healing. Lifting his head slightly he then tucked Robyn's head under his chin and wrapped his arms around her once more.

They remained like this for what felt like hours until Robyn sat up suddenly.

She'd failed to sense the three men that stood outside the room until the door slowly edged open.


	19. Chapter 19

Kit pushed the door to the hospital room open slowly but burst in on seeing the vacant bed as the light from the corridor illuminated the white sheets stained with traces of blood. It wasn't long before he saw Robyn in the corner with _him._

"_What the fuck is he doing here_?" Kit bellowed as he pointed at LaCroix.

Langford and Robbie had hurried into the room on hearing Kit shout and were greeted with the same scene that Kit was reeling from. Robyn was still wrapped in LaCroix's embrace and she trembled perceptively as Robbie looked at her, painful confusion mixing with horror.

Before anyone could walk in and disturb whatever this situation was, Langford quickly moved to shut and lock the door. With this done he walked back to his original place and tried his hardest to comprehend just what was going on.

Kit looked at Robyn's neck and saw the fang marks that still oozed diminishing trickles of blood, "Sweet Jesus! He hasn't...you haven't...you're not a..."

LaCroix stood up slowly, bringing Robyn up effortlessly with him and supporting her weight as he still held onto her. Knowing what Kit was asking of Robyn he was tempted to bait the insolent whelp into giving him cause to snap his neck but refrained. That action would be the direct opposite of the one he had undertaken to ensure that Robyn would be with him for eternity, albeit, it had for this moment failed.

Still trembling Robyn shook her head no to Kit. She could feel the fear in him that underlined the anger that had bubbled to the surface. Moving her senses from Kit to Robbie she was assaulted with the conflicting emotions rampaging inside him.

"Robyn, who is this man?" He asked, his voice thick with the hurt that seemed to overtake most of his emotions. "Are you involved with him? He looks a lot older than you."

"Oh I'd say the age difference between us numbers at least into the quadruple figures," LaCroix retorted his tone mocking.

Langford shook his head sharply as LaCroix's words rang in his ears, "Qua...quadruple figures?"

LaCroix smirked at the feeble comprehension of the mortals he was greeted with. His mocking tone had turned into a mocking smile and now became a mocking chuckle that subsided as he felt Robyn move in his arms.

"You'd better go. The sun will be up soon. I can handle this," Robyn said, her eyes flitting from LaCroix to the window and back.

Concern softened LaCroix's features as he looked down at his beloved, "Are you sure ma chérie?"

"Oh he's not going anywhere. I want to see him become barbecue!" Kit scoffed.

The moment that LaCroix had hoped to bait Kit into arrived of its own volition and with a snarl curving his lips he released Robyn and began to stride towards the one that had insulted him but a placating hand on his chest stopped him in his tracks.

"Don't," Robyn pleaded as LaCroix reached down and took her hand in his. "Please, I can handle this."

LaCroix's shoulders sunk into a sigh as he brought Robyn's hand to his lips once more. He was overcome with temptation as he placed her hand on his cheek and guided her chin so he could kiss her fully on the lips, his blue eyes flecked with amber that flashed a warning to the one he'd been prevented from snapping in half.

Breaking the kiss off with a silent moan he turned from Robyn and looked towards the window. He could sense the first stirrings of the sun in the horizon and had to be away before it awakened from its slumber. Throwing caution to the wind he opened the window and flew through it after sparing Robyn a last, longing glance.

Having watched LaCroix fly away, Robyn turned to the two men staring at the space LaCroix had occupied and the remaining man shaking visibly with the adrenaline he'd been unable to utilise.

Robyn had no idea what to say to him.

LaCroix's flight to his shelter was disturbed as he sensed them near, the Enforcers. He'd allowed his secret to become exposed and they would not allow this to go unpunished. They'd followed him from Toronto and he'd led them straight to the woman who could detect his kind in an instant. There was only one option. He touched down in a secluded area of park land that he knew they'd show themselves in and waited.

It wasn't long before he heard the menacing growls and saw the hands holding stakes, there were four Enforcers coming closer and closer to him. He stood his ground in defiance as he listened to their growls and the charges they made against him.

His defiance wavered as he heard within their growls that they were first going to kill him and then go after Robyn. They'd make allowances for the three other mortals that had played witness to LaCroix's carelessness, they could be hypnotised easily enough with a memory of Robyn killing herself planted in their heads.

In a direct show of aggression towards the Enforcers, LaCroix allowed his Vampire to surface and he answered their growls with one of his own. They would not take his love away from him nor would they survive their insubordination. He was an Ancient, his age and power commanding respect.

With a loud roar he attacked.

Kit watched as Robyn walked unsteadily over to the window and closed it before she began to weave. He ran and jumped over the bed, catching her before she hit the ground.

She was out cold.

Hands grabbed and tore at him as fangs bit him over and over. Incensed his eyes had turned to red and catching one of his attackers off guard he used his immense strength and broke them in half. He tossed another one off as a stake was thrust into his shoulder. Ripping it from his flesh he buried it into the heart of one of the two Enforcers trying to subdue him. Reaching around his back he pulled the remaining attacker from him and ripped his throat out, smiling as he fell away gurgling. So caught up was he in this sight that he didn't see the surviving Enforcer charging at him with his stake raised high.

LaCroix hissed as he realised what was happening just as the stake hit home in his chest. He'd moved in time to stop it puncturing his heart but the impact sent him sprawling to the ground. Growling angrily he clawed at the stake as he tried to remove it and the Enforcer gradually stalked up to him. He felt the Enforcer slam a foot on his chest as it bent down and deftly removed the stake.

Immobilised, LaCroix could only watch as the stake was brought down towards his heart at speed. He was ready for the end when all of a sudden an invisible force threw the Enforcer from him and the stake clattered to the ground. Turning himself over he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the figure of his beloved chérie glaring at the Enforcer.

Robyn turned her attention from the Enforcer to the stake and it flew towards her, the point stopping just short of her face. Turning her eyes upward the stake rotated in the air so the point faced away from her. Flicking her head sharply the stake hurtled towards the Enforcer who was too dumbstruck at what he was seeing to make any move to stop it from tearing its point straight through his heart.

Before the light from his amber eyes faded in death he released a single growl at his murderess.

LaCroix shared the question that the dead Enforcer had left hanging in the air as his chérie walked over to him and crouching down supported his head in her hands.

"How?"


	20. Chapter 20

Silence had remained between the blue haired woman and Morgan for some minutes. He could see she was trying to formulate what she wanted to say to him and he waited patiently. It was a subject she seemed almost embarrassed to bring up but eventually she came right out with it.

"Me and Milford, the Mayor," She began, "We realised that you've worn the same clothes since you got here and you probably feel as though you could do with a freshen up."

Morgan raised a quizzical eyebrow at the blue haired woman before replying, "I have to admit I'd appreciate having a good wash and I have been wearing these clothes for a while."

"If you wanted in the morning I could bring you in some hot water or get the Network officers, the people guarding you, to help you to the bathroom and you can freshen yourself up. While you're doing that I could take your clothes and give them a good wash, it should be a dry day tomorrow so they should dry ok when I hang them out."

Quizzical eyebrow still raised, Morgan nodded his assent and watched as Bessie smiled and got up. She opened the door and left the room, Morgan's guard returned soon after and silence once again filled the room. With his guest gone, Morgan rolled himself onto his back, grunting at the pain the movement caused. He closed his eyes and tried to understand just why he, a brutal killer, was being shown such hospitality.

The first traces of dawn began to light up the sky as Robyn helped LaCroix to stand, staggering momentarily under his weight and six foot six frame. She helped him limp towards an outbuilding they'd spotted on the edge of LaCroix's make shift battlefield and using his immense strength he turned the knob right the way round, breaking the lock. He pushed the door open and they passed through the door, after a cursory examination LaCroix was satisfied that it would be sufficient for him to pass the day out of the sun's rays.

"What about them?" Robyn asked, nodding towards the bodies of the four Enforcers still strewn on the grass.

"The sun will take care of them. There will only be ashes by the time it's risen to its peak."

LaCroix fell quiet as he considered the woman in front of him. She looked and sounded like Robyn, she moved and every feature of Robyn's was here but he couldn't convince himself that it was her. He'd left Robyn in the hospital room; there was no way she could be with him now. One of his main concerns was that no matter how he tried he couldn't hear her heartbeat, he couldn't pick up her scent and when he closed his eyes he couldn't feel her presence.

"You could say this is an evolved form of astral projection," Robyn explained, sensing LaCroix's doubtfulness, "I can leave my body behind and go wherever I want within a certain distance. The only major downside to it is that I can't be here and in my body at the same time and I have limited awareness of what's happening around 'me'."

Understanding what Robyn was saying and in awe of it, LaCroix nodded. "How did you know what was happening? How did you know where to find me?"

"I sensed the Enforcers not long after you left. I had to wait until I could see where they were before I came here." Robyn looked away as if a sound had reached her ears that not even LaCroix's vampiric hearing could detect. "I have to go now, I've been gone a while and they're starting to get worried."

"I'll come and see you tonight, when the sun sets."

Robyn smiled thinly and shaking her head she placed her hand tenderly on LaCroix's cheek, "Go home Lucien. Go back to Toronto when night falls. I know you want to make me one of your kind but I find it hard enough to live every day feeling the pain I do, pain that you've felt tonight. I don't know if I could face eternity with it. Not just yet. I'm not saying that I'll never accept your offer but right now there's too much that I need to do. I don't know if I'm ready to leave this life behind yet."

LaCroix's jaw set as his eyes grew dark but he understood. She hadn't turned him down entirely but he refused to see her wither and die with age and he only hoped that if her life were to be swept away from her he'd know in time to be able to reverse her death and give her eternal life. He took her head in his hands and closing his eyes kissed her deeply.

When his eyes opened again she was gone.


	21. Chapter 21

Kathleen gingerly walked into the hospital room her first patient to check on was in. Her face beamed sympathy as she looked upon Kit, his head resting on the side of the bed his hand linked with Robyn's, Robbie on Robyn's other side his eyes tracing the blood bag connected to her arm and a man she hadn't met yet hovering uncomfortably from one side of the room to the other who nodded his head in acknowledgement of her presence. She nodded back and walked over to Robbie who looked up at her as she placed a hand on his shoulder before he turned his head back to Robyn.

Stepping to Robbie's other side, Kathleen checked the blood bag and saw that it was draining well, replacing the blood that Robyn had lost. Moving back towards the end of the bed she pulled out the folder slotted into the box that hung on it and started to fill in some notes. Looking up she smiled as Kit stirred and looked round to see her. He turned his chair around slightly and stretched, his hand never leaving Robyn's.

"Hi Kat," He yawned, "You start early...it is early isn't it?"

Kathleen laughed lightly as she saw Kit look round the room for a clock, "It is. It's a new scheme the hospital is running. They accept that around this time of the morning the night staff are pretty tired and more likely to make mistakes so they've piloted a project for a skeleton crew to come in early morning to help them out. I was one of the lucky volunteers. How's Robyn been?"

Kit shrugged, "Off somewhere communing with the cosmos I imagine. She sleeps like the dead sometimes and it's scary."

Seeing Robbie react to the word 'dead' Kit smiled at him apologetically and looked back at Kathleen who was frowning slightly at something she'd just seen in Robyn's notes.

"How did Robyn get that cut to her neck anyway? It says unspecified on here but there's no mention of it on her admission record."

Langford stopped hovering as he crossed his arms and began to gulp like a fish, "Well...erm...I suppose they must have missed it. I'm pretty sure it didn't happen here, it could have happened when she fell in Lily's hide out."

"It seems a very strange place to get a wound though," Kathleen replied still frowning.

"There were nails in the door frame where she fell, she was writhing a lot so could have caught herself. She had a jacket on so it's likely that we didn't notice it and she's been covered up while she's been here so it could have been bleeding for a while before we found it."

Kathleen didn't seem sure that she accepted Langford's explanation but she had to admit that it seemed plausible that Robyn could have lost the amount of blood she had through a wound that had bled for hours. She just couldn't see how the admissions team had missed something that should have been so obvious. She was disturbed from her thoughts when Langford addressed her.

"I don't suppose Sportacus knows about Robyn being in here does he?"

Kathleen looked surprised at Langford's question but she remembered that Sportacus had said that a Network officer had followed him home. He must have checked her address against a database and her cheeks coloured as Kit looked at her aghast.

"It's not what you think. I bumped into him in Greentown and he told me what had been going on. He was staying in a really grotty motel and I couldn't sit by and let him stay there so I asked him to come stay with me until his new airship gets delivered." Kathleen clarified a blush still painting her cheeks, "And no, he doesn't know she's in here yet. I only just found out myself when I came on shift. I'll only tell him if you want me to, I know you guys aren't getting on at the moment and I don't want to upset anybody."

Langford looked at Kit who looked at Robbie who shrugged when he looked at Kathleen then at Robyn when he heard her stirring.

Eyes still closed, Robyn said her piece, "Tell who you want...I get out of here today anyway so I wouldn't say it matters too much."

"I'm afraid that you were only being let out today before we found you'd lost that blood, it'll be up to Doctor Cole whether he's ready to discharge you or not after having a transfusion. He's coming on duty in an hour." Kathleen smiled sympathetically after she delivered the news.

Looking at her fob watch and excusing herself she left the room. When she was gone Langford resumed his nervous hovering before coming to a stop at the foot of Robyn's bed and leaning against it. He looked down at her and watched as she opened her eyes, her face conveying slight embarrassment. Adjusting his stance he levelled his gaze with hers as she sat herself up and Kit lifted her pillow so she could lean against it.

"What are you going to do?" She asked, her voice quiet.

Langford responded with mock confusion, "About what?"

Robyn indicated the dressing that was on her neck, "This."

"I guess we keep it between us. We three know what we saw; at least we think we do. Kit seems to know a bit more about it than me and Robbie, it was his idea to make an incision between the...puncture wounds as I guess two holes in your neck might look a little suspicious considering the fact you lost a reasonable amount of blood that no one's seen. I don't think anyone else really needs to know what happened, it would just make an awkward situation even more awkward and to be honest, I already feel as though I'm living in the Twilight zone. I don't want to start having to explain that I've seen a Vampire running around; they might end up taking me out of commission or throwing me into that Safe House. I don't want to know who he is, where he is, how you two met and what exactly happened between you last night. All I'm concerned with finding out at this present moment is what you've done with Toksvig and Peters."

As if on cue the door opened and in crept an incredibly nervous Peters.

"Where the hell have you been? And where the bloody hell is Toksvig? Why did you abandon your post?" Langford snapped as he clapped his eyes on his absentee officer.

Peters lowered his eyes, "Toksvig is gone. He thought something bad about Robyn, she got mad and he left. I went after him and tried to stop him but he was adamant he wasn't coming back. He's quit, Sir. He went to the airport, got on a plane and left. I didn't know where you'd be so I went back to Lazytown and they told me you were here so I came back."

Peters raised his eyes and looked at Robyn, he gasped when he saw the blood bag attached to Robyn's arm. "Has something...has something happened?" He stammered.

"That's what I'd like to know," Doctor Cole stated as he walked into the room and observed the sight before him.

Kit studied the Doctor briefly before addressing him, "Pardon the pun but what's up Doc?"

Doctor Cole glanced about the room avoiding anyone's direct gaze as he tried to keep his composure, "It's the strangest thing really. Michael...well...Michael wasn't there when I got home last night. All his things were gone. There was a note on the fridge though...it said something about thirty years being too long to resume a proper relationship...too much water under the bridge. You could say the long and the short of it is that he's gone back to Scotland, he's left me."

"Oh Doc!" Kit exclaimed releasing Robyn's hand before he stood up and walked over to the Doctor and wrapped his arms around him in a comforting hug, "I'm so sorry."

Doctor Cole put his arms around Kit as well and patted him on the back, "Don't worry about me. He'd been so distant the last few days...I should have seen it coming.

"I know I'm not Michael but you've still got me," Kit soothed as he gave the older man a kiss on the cheek and squeezed him a bit tighter when he began to feel wetness on his shoulder.

"I have indeed," Doctor Cole sobbed before letting Kit go and getting the young man to do the same. He sniffed loudly and wiped the fallen tears from his face before shakily regaining his composure and smiling at Robyn, "And I have you to keep me busy as always young lady. What's the story this time?"


	22. Chapter 22

It was Robyn's turn to colour slightly at the question Doctor Cole posed to her, "I fell, and I must have caught my neck on one of the nails in the doorframe."

"Hmmm," Doctor Cole raised an eyebrow as he noticed Langford uttering a sigh of relief but he chose to let it slide. "By the way, as you know I checked on Morgan yesterday after he was moved to the Mayor's house. He'll live, he'll need to rest up for a little while and take things easy but he'll be right as rain eventually."

Robyn was visibly relieved, "Are you seeing him today?"

Doctor Cole shook his head, "Rory is taking my rounds today. I swapped with him. Believe it or not I feel better being here. I can keep busy. I have to admit Rory was very surprised when I told him who his first patient was but he'll let me know how he's doing."

"If it's any consolation," Langford joined, "I checked in with the men guarding him last night before we came over here. Morgan's been very quiet and somehow seems more scared of the Mayor and the guards than they are of him. Apparently the Mayor's been trying to fatten him up a little. It seems a bit odd to me given Morgan's background."

Robbie let out a dry laugh, "It's not unusual for him to do good things for bad people. He did the same for me once."

Robbie could remember well the kindness the Mayor had shown him despite everything he'd done to try and wreck Lazytown, including allying himself with Lily. He shuddered outwardly at the thought of the woman and felt Robyn squeeze his hand.

Not missing and understanding Robbie's shudder at the mention of _that_ name, Langford continued. "If you want Robyn, when the good Doctor discharges from here and provided there's no objection I'll drop you at the Mayor's house. I'm sure Morgan will be eager to see you. It might make him feel a bit more comfortable."

Robyn looked at Kit and Robbie who showed no signs of objection to her seeing her brother and she smiled slightly, "I'd like that, thank you. How soon can I get out of here?"

Walking over to Robyn's blood bag, Doctor Cole inspected it and like Kathleen, checked Robyn's notes. "The transfusion is nearly finished, I'll get the Nurse to remove it shortly and provided you maintain a good temperature and blood pressure for the next three or four hours I'm sure we can kick you out by lunch time. We'll forget your CAT scan today but I would like to book you in for an MRI within the next couple of weeks and see how things are looking after your operation. I just want to make sure we didn't miss anything and there isn't any residual brain damage. As I understand it you sustained a couple of head injuries in Toronto and even though the CAT scan you had when you came back didn't show anything I'd like to be on the safe side and take a slightly more detailed look. With your prior history I don't want to take any chances."

Robyn nodded as she absorbed the information. She'd escaped the dreaded scanner this time but the one she really didn't like would be on the cards soon and she hoped for positive results.

True to her promise Bessie had spoken with the Network officers and arranged for them to help Morgan to the bathroom so that he could wash himself. Two of the guards had entered the room, helped him to remove his shirt and instructed him to put his hands behind his back, snapping handcuffs to his wrists once he'd done as they'd asked. Morgan groaned with pain as the officers helped him to stand and supported his weight as he limped unsteadily to the bathroom. As he entered he saw a man he didn't recognise stood in the bathroom wearing surgical gloves and running hot water into the sink. A stool had been placed a foot from the sink and Morgan was helped to sit on it, the officers letting him go when they were assured he had his balance. Indicating to Morgan and the man that they'd be listening both officers left the room, clicking the door closed behind them.

Seeing Morgan's evident discomfort at seeing him wearing surgical gloves the man spoke, "I'm Doctor Rory Malone. My colleague Doctor Cole was down to come and see you today but unfortunately he's unavailable to do his rounds so I've stepped in for him. It's not normally within my list of daily duties to wash patients but it gives me a good opportunity to take a good look at you and see what damage was done. Do you have any preference regarding toiletries?"

Still looking and feeling intensely uncomfortable, Morgan shook his head. He just wanted this experience over as quickly as possible.


	23. Chapter 23

Seeing his patient's evident discomfort, Doctor Malone selected one of the bottles of shower gel that had been left out at the side of the sink and sniffed it. It was a masculine scent and after getting Morgan to sniff it to see if he liked it, which the young man seemed to, he squeezed some into the freshly run hot water. Reaching over to the wall he gathered up two towels and flannels and hung one flannel over the edge of the sink before submerging the other one in the water. One towel he placed on Morgan's lap and the other he threw over his shoulder before taking the flannel from the water and wringing it out.

Morgan closed his eyes as the hot flannel was run over the skin of his face gently. He squirmed slightly when the flannel found its way behind his ears; with his eyes closed he missed the slight smile of amusement on Doctor Malone's lips.

'No one ever likes having behind their ears done,' he thought to himself.

Taking the towel from over his shoulder, Doctor Malone dried Morgan's face and putting it back proceeded to wash Morgan's chest. He was very careful of the large purple bruises covering almost every inch of the young man's abdomen and rather than rubbing it dry he decided it best to pat it dry with his hand wrapped flat in the towel. He carefully dried the area and asked Morgan to try to open up his arms so that he could wash underneath them; this was done with some effort. With Morgan's front done, Doctor Malone moved onto his back. He put the flannel back into the water, rung it out again and walked behind him and through the bruising was surprised to see what he could make out as a tattoo that was sat between his shoulder blades.

"My life – a candle in the wind...frost on the leaves. Be not afraid of growing slowly; be only afraid of standing still. The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water; but to walk on the Earth." Doctor Malone read out loud.

Watching his patient's face in the mirror, Doctor Malone could see a look first of surprise but then calm, "I have two more," He said moving his arms.

Bending down to look at the back of Morgan's left arm, Doctor Malone read, "To know about the road ahead, ask those coming back," Doing the same with Morgan's right arm he read, "If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow."

Doctor Malone saw Morgan lower his head slightly and could almost detect an ironic smile lighting up the smallest part of the young man's face.

"I admit I don't always live up to that one," He whispered almost to himself.

"Do any of us?" Doctor Malone responded, smiling slightly at this very human side he'd seen to a man many considered a monster.

Realising the flannel had gone cold, Doctor Malone walked back round to the sink and refreshed it before commencing with washing Morgan's back. This done he dried it and now he was faced with something of an uncomfortable situation with regards to how he'd go about washing the remainder of Morgan's body, namely the area that was still covered with clothes. Morgan had evidently thought about this himself and his previous discomfort seemed to increase.

"Erm...excuse me!" Doctor Malone called out and quickly the door to the bathroom opened admitting two of the Network officers, one of which was holding a bundle of clothes.

"Are you finished? Bessie gave us these to give to you for Morgan; they're a pair of the Mayor's pyjamas for him to wear until she's washed his clothes." The officer stated indicating the contents of his hands.

Doctor Malone shook his head, "There's still one more place I need to do but I'm sure that Morgan would like to do it himself...I'm sure you're aware that he can't do that with these handcuffs on, unless you'd like to do it..."

One Network officer looked to the other, contemplating their next move. They seemed to be deliberating silently with each other through a range of facial expressions and it was evident to Doctor Malone that when they had fastened Morgan's hands behind his back with the handcuffs they hadn't considered this eventuality. The stern look on his face told them that he wouldn't accept them simply dismissing his need to be clean in this area as well.

Looking harassed, the Network officer without anything in his hands came to a decision, "Alright! We'll take them off, he can do what he needs to do and they go back on. We don't leave the room though and you come over here by us, Doctor."

Doctor Malone did as he was bid and he stood just beyond the officer that had addressed him. The officer took from his pocket a set of keys and walked towards Morgan. Keeping his body well away from arm's length he unlocked the handcuffs and took them from Morgan's wrists before joining the others.

Morgan cautiously drew his hands from behind his back, shaking his wrists lightly as he did so. He didn't take his eyes from the three men stood near the door as he pushed himself up from the stool and gripped the sink. He saw Doctor Malone encourage the two officers to turn around to allow him some privacy. With some resistance they did so and he quickly undid his trousers, letting them fall to the floor and removed his underpants. Using the flannel that had been left on the edge of the sink he washed his lower areas swiftly and dried them. Still standing with the towel clasped to his modesty he asked for the officers to throw over the pyjamas so he could get dressed. Turning slightly, the officer holding the pyjamas tossed the trousers over then the shirt before turning back to face the door.

With their backs turned they hadn't seen the tattoo of a dark angel on his leg that started at his foot with the phrase '_tomorrow is never promised'_ at the angel's feet and its body draped in a long black dress continued covering most of his left leg, its wings unfolded, wrapped either side of his upper thigh. Her lips painted blood red, her face bearing a striking resemblance to Robyn.

The three men facing the wall heard the shuffling associated with someone putting clothes on in a hurry and on hearing a muttered 'ready' turned back to see Morgan sat on the stool, hands behind his back ready for the handcuffs to be put back on.

As the handcuffs clicked shut on Morgan's wrists a knock sounded on the bathroom door, it opened a crack and a well manicured hand with painted red fingernails snaked through the gap. Knowing what the hand wanted, one of the officers gathered up Morgan's trousers and pants and gave them to the hand that promptly disappeared.

Supporting Morgan to stand, the officers then walked him out of the bathroom but not back to his room. He was escorted through to the kitchen where a plate of food was waiting for him on the table at which sat the Mayor and the blue haired lady. Once he'd been seated at the table the handcuffs were once again removed and his guards stood close behind him.

Doctor Malone entered the room after having removed his gloves, tidied up the bathroom and washed his hands. "I asked them if it would be possible to give you a change of scenery. If you spend too long in bed it won't be good for you and you need to start getting up and about. From the chart Doctor Cole left here I can see you're long overdue your next dose of pain relief and it shows. I can administer it now if you like."

"No thank you," Morgan replied, his eyes low, "I'd rather do without."

Surprise was evident in Doctor Malone's voice as he responded, "I really wouldn't recommend going without just yet. Perhaps we can compromise and I can give you a lower dose so you can see how you feel, if it works for you we can gradually reduce the dose more and more until you don't need any."

Morgan nodded to show his acceptance of this and putting on another pair of gloves, Doctor Malone drew up the pain relief in a syringe from a vial that was being kept in the fridge. Checking the amount carefully, he noted it down and walked over to Morgan.

"Sharp scratch," He said gently after rolling up Morgan's sleeve and gave him his injection.

Morgan flinched slightly as the needle entered his flesh but he made no other movement. He could feel the eyes of his guards and hosts upon him and he sighed.

He'd never felt such kindness in his life.


	24. Chapter 24

Four hours had passed and Doctor Cole re-entered the room. He said a general hello to the four people in the room and flipped open Robyn's folder. He smiled as he looked over her notes and drawing out his pen he began to scribble something on one of the pages. He could tell Robyn was waiting intently for his verdict. Once he'd done scribbling his own notes, Doctor Cole looked up and replaced the folder back in its holder.

"Everything looks fine. You're free to go but if these gentlemen would allow it I just need to have a private word with you first?" Doctor Cole requested.

Robyn nodded and when Robbie, Kit and Langford had left she spoke, "What's up?"

"There were a couple of things I wanted to clear up with you before you leave." Doctor Cole explained coming to sit on the chair that Robbie had vacated, "I'll be blunt Robyn, you look ill. You've looked ill for quite a while and it doesn't escape my notice that you've lost a lot of weight, weight you never had in the first place. It's understandable that someone who's had as much stress as you in recent times will lose weight. However, I don't only think that your weight loss is entirely down to stress. You've not been eating properly for a while have you?"

Looking slightly guilty, Robyn shook her head.

"I thought not. That's why I've taken the liberty of prescribing you some supplements to help build you back up again healthily. I'll have you weighed weekly until we start to see some improvement and then we can go from there. Today is Thursday so I'll see you on the following Thursday at three pm at the Outreach Clinic. Kathleen is getting everything together that you'll need to take home and I'm sure she'll give it to the boys. If there's nothing else you need all I can say is go home."

Robyn smiled and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, hugged Doctor Cole. He returned her hug and helped her up. Waving goodbye to Robyn he left the room so that she could get changed.

When Robyn changed she left the hospital room and saw Langford, Kit, Robbie and Peters waiting for her. She could see Kit holding a big bag that she guessed had the supplements that Doctor Cole had mentioned inside.

Robyn went to walk over to Kit but stopped and looked at Robbie before turning back to Kit, "Do you reckon you three could go and get the car?"

Understanding what Robyn was asking Kit nudged a confused Langford and started to follow Peters down the corridor who'd also picked up on Robyn's subliminal hint that she needed time alone to talk to Robbie.

"Robyn, I'm so sorry." Robbie began before Robyn could say anything and waved her hand away when she tried to silence him, "I should never have been like that towards you. I don't know what came over me. There's nothing I can say that goes anywhere near even making things up to you. If you want to involve Sportacus in your life again I can't stand in your way, I have no right to interfere. I just want you to do what you think will make you happy."

Robyn wrapped Robbie up in a big hug, "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you first. I shouldn't have just invited him in. I'm just so tired of all the fighting I wanted to go some way to make amends for what I've done to him and he apologised for what he's done to me but I told him it's not something I can simply forgive. The only way any of us is going to move on is if we stop fighting and work through each thing as it comes. He invited me to go to dinner with him some time but I'll understand if you don't want me to go."

"You can go, just make sure he pays!" Robbie smiled, letting Robyn go as she released him from the hug. "And I hope I'm still your daddy?"

Robyn returned Robbie's smile before giving him another hug and kissing him on the cheek.

Stephanie looked at the garden of her Uncle's house with confusion. She walked over as she saw Bessie hanging out some clothes she didn't recognise. It was only when she drew closer that she realised who the owner of the clothes was.

"You're doing his laundry?" She asked her nose wrinkled with a hint of disgust.

Bessie turned to look at Stephanie before finishing pegging the last item of Morgan's clothing to the washing line, "I thought it would be nice for him. He's been wearing the same clothes for days."

"But Bessie he's a-"

"Young man that needs help," Bessie interjected, knowing where her partner's niece was heading to in her last statement, "Besides, he helped Robyn. He brought her back to us and he rid us of that awful Elias. I don't condone his actions and neither does your Uncle but he obviously risked his life to get Robyn out of Lily's clutches. I admit I felt the same as you did with your Uncle's decision but Morgan has been a very quiet and polite young man."

Stephanie saw Bessie look to the side of her as she spied something in the distance and turned around. Two of the Network vehicles were winding their way down the road towards the house and both women smiled as Robyn got out of one.

"He's in the lounge Dear, go straight through." Bessie invited as Robyn approached.

Robyn entered the house, Peters following behind her on Langford's order.

Stephanie shook her head when Robyn had disappeared from her line of sight, "I just hope he doesn't hurt her like Cain did." She muttered before heading back home.


	25. Chapter 25

Robyn fought to contain her laughter as she walked into the living room and saw Morgan ensconced in one of the Mayor's more tasteless styled robes and a pair of pyjamas that were miles to big for him. She bit her lip as she could see that Morgan was more than a little uncomfortable under her scrutiny.

"I'm sorry," Robyn breathed trying to quell her urge to laugh, "It's just you look...you look."

"I look ridiculous," Morgan moaned seemingly sinking into the oversized robe.

It was more than she could stand and Robyn began to laugh out loud before she could check herself.

"Oh go on, laugh!" Morgan cried in outrage throwing his arms up in the air, "I'm surprised no one else has joined in!"

"I'm sorry, I can't help it! It's just in that robe and pyjamas with your beard...you look like someone from the Bible"

Morgan looked blankly at Robyn for a moment before exclaiming, "Well I'm sure that's reassuring for the millions of Christians in the world!"

Some of the Network officers seemed to share Robyn's amusement at Morgan's attire and had begun to smile at her reaction. They'd never seen her laugh before and they would have laughed too if they hadn't been thrown off guard by a genuine smile that had started to slowly creep across Morgan's features.

Seeing Morgan smile made Robyn pause in her laughter and she cleared her throat before sitting next to him on the sofa. It wasn't long before his smile began to fade but a trace of it seemed to remain in his expressive eyes. He'd never seen his sister laugh before either and he liked it, it warmed him inside.

"Where have you been?" He asked suddenly, remembering that he hadn't seen her for a couple of days.

Robyn squirmed uncomfortably for a minute before deciding that honesty was the best policy, "I went with some of the Network guys to Lily's hideout."

"You did what?" Morgan's expression had darkened considerably and all traces of the humour he'd previously shared with her had gone. "Do you realise what she would have done to you if she'd been there?"

"She wasn't there!" Robyn protested, "Someone she'd killed was...I picked up on it and..."

Morgan's expression darkened still further but there was a tinge of something else to it as he seemed to remember what had happened to Robyn in the living room of Lily's hide out when she'd sat in Doctor Trent's chair. He'd put two and two together.

"What happened?" He asked, his voice tinged with the same emotion registering on his face.

"My heart stopped. Two of the Network guys got me back with help from Doctor Malone, I had to stay in Hospital overnight and I've only just got back."

As the strange emotion seemed to grow, Morgan looked away. Robyn could see he was becoming intensely uncomfortable again but had her own questions to ask of him.

"How did she find you?"

Morgan knew of who Robyn was speaking and shuddered slightly, "When we escaped I told you about her supporters...one of them must have seen me and followed me to where I was hiding. I should have known better. He led her right to me. She burst in before I even knew she was there and she grabbed me. I've never seen her like that. Normally she toys with her prey, you know that, but this time it was different. I couldn't get away from her. Somehow I managed to break free but she was on me again in a flash. I don't know how I did it but I knocked her off stride and she fell, she must have hit her head or something because she didn't get up...I didn't know if it was a trick or not so I left her. Her supporter had stayed behind but when he saw me leaving and not her he ran. I kept moving for as long as I could and that's when I ended up under the bridge. I just couldn't go any further."

Eyes glittering with tears Robyn nodded. She hadn't expected Morgan to go so far in his explanation. He was now as much an outcast in his mother's eyes as she and she wondered if Lily would give him a second chance or attempt to kill him again if she found him.

A few minutes silence ensued after Morgan's explanation of events leading up to his discovery by Doctor Cole. He was still facing away slightly from Robyn and she was happy to see that his posture had become a lot more relaxed. It wasn't until she heard his breathing shallow that she realised he'd fallen asleep.

Smiling slightly she got up slowly and left her brother to sleep. As she was passing one of the Network officers in the doorway she heard one of their radios beep and a message was relayed.

"_Tell Robyn that Kit says 'Sportasmurf' is on his way over. He knows about her hospital stay_."


	26. Chapter 26

"Sportasmurf?" Robyn gleamed as she walked into the house and raised an eyebrow at Kit.

Kit laughed, "That one was Robbie's. I tried to think of other nicknames but they'd have been a bit rude. How's Morgan?"

It was Robyn's turn to laugh but she sobered on seeing a rather surprised pair of faces looking at her, "He's looking...rather holy."

Peters, the Network officer that had escorted Robyn home chuckled as he picked up on her meaning. Kit and Robbie looked at each other and shrugged as they guessed it was an in-joke between the two and Morgan. Whatever the joke was, they were just happy to see that part of the old Robyn they'd sorely missed was starting to come back.

Gauging that Robyn would be in a good enough mood to talk; Kit asked her if he could talk to her alone. Robyn didn't disagree and followed him upstairs.

When Kit had closed the door he said what was on his mind, "I don't know why that LaCroix guy was in your hospital room, or why he did what he did and what you two got up to. I'm not sure I even want to know, it's entirely up to you if you tell me or not. You two met when you were having one of the hardest times of your life and I can accept that you made a connection with him, I'm not angry that it happened then and I know I was angry when I saw him in the hospital but I panicked. I thought he'd come to take you away from me and when I saw the blood I thought he'd made you one of them. If I admit it as well, I'm jealous. He's the first competition I've had for you since Ziggy but then I'm not sure if Ziggy ever really counted. I just want to know if there's anything going on with you and LaCroix, if he makes you happier tha-"

Kit was cut off by Robyn putting her finger to his lips as she had always done before, it was her turn to speak, "I honestly don't know if I can explain the situation between me and Lucien. I remind him of someone he loved a very long time ago, Nick's sister Fleur. He sees her in me and deep within his heart he holds the regret that he never brought her across, made her a vampire, he doesn't want to make the same mistake with me."

"He wants to make you a vampire?"

Robyn nodded, "I refused him. He would have brought me across last night but the pain within my blood was too much for him."

"What do you mean?" Kit asked frowning.

"Lucien told me the first night we met that every drop of blood tells its own story. Within each drop they can relive memories, see things that have happened in the past. Your blood tells everything about you, every thought, every experience. He felt my pain, the pain within me. He couldn't drink any more of my blood; he hadn't taken enough to bring me over."

"I guess that's a relief. I suppose now the million dollar question is...do you love him?"

"Not in the same way I love you. I'm drawn to him somehow, as if that part of me he can see Fleur in is the part of me that's in some way connected to her."

A thought came to Kit, "Like some kind of extremely distant relative?"

Robyn shrugged, "Maybe. I don't know."

Before any more could be said between the pair the bedroom door burst open and Sportacus raced in, gathering Robyn up in a bone crunching hug. She had no time to refuse the physical contact or react.

His voice was muffled against her shoulder, "Kathleen told me they'd nearly lost you when they resuscitated you. I had to come over to make sure you were alright."

"If you squeeze me much harder they might have to resuscitate me again!" Robyn squeaked under the strain from Sportacus' strangling arms.

As if Robyn were red hot, Sportacus rapidly released her. He'd forgotten himself and realised that he'd forgotten Robyn's previous rejections of physical contact with him and hoped he hadn't burned the bridges they'd built back up again in their relationship.

"It's ok," Robyn reassured seeing Sportacus' worry, "You had every right to react the way you did. Just please, before you're going to try to see if my head pops off like pop up pirate, give me a little warning."

Sportacus looked as confused as Kit and Robbie had on seeing this slight glimmer of the old Robyn, a Robyn he'd feared long gone as a result of his grievous sins.

"Now I know you're ok, maybe I should go. I don't want to upset Robbie." Sportacus said, turning and starting to leave the room before a hand touched his arm.

Kit drew his arm back when Sportacus turned back to face him and Robyn, "Why don't you stay a little? You've come all the way here and it seems a bit of a waste to just head back to Greentown again."

Kit's suggestion had come purely out of the blue and Sportacus wondered as did Robyn whether they'd heard him right. Not willing to ruin the illusion of spending time with his daughter with two men he still cared for deeply Sportacus couldn't refuse and nodded vacantly.

"Cool," Kit smiled before looking at Robyn, "Hey Robs, why don't you tell Robbie to set the table for one more? Me and Sportacus will be down in a sec."

There was something about this that Robyn didn't like, she could sense a tension in Kit that belied his outward friendliness. As he insisted she left the room, thinking it best to close the door behind her.

As the door clicked shut, Kit rounded on Sportacus, an action that in no way seemed to surprise the older man. "Now you listen to me Sportashite. I'm doing this entirely for her benefit. She might be willing to make amends with you but I'm not going to let what you've done to her wash so easily. I called Robbie off you because what he says or does to you affects her more than what I do. If you ever hurt her again, and I mean in any miniscule way, if you ever lie to her again or do anything that upsets her in any way I'm going to bend you over and see how many juggling balls I can stuff up your arse before they start coming out of your mouth. Capiche?"

Sportacus nodded stiffly. He understood perfectly.


	27. Chapter 27

Kit almost jumped out of his own skin when he opened the bedroom door and came nose to nose with Robyn. Her face was like a blank canvas and her eyes shone, tears painting a picture of sadness in their wake.

She'd heard every word.

_Don't try to explain your mind  
I know what's happening here_

"I have ears you know. You call peace between Sportacus and daddy and yet here you are inciting the war again. Is it any wonder why I run away when all anyone does is tear strips off each other?"

_One minute its love and suddenly it's like a battle-field _

Kit tried to speak but Robyn silenced him.

_One word turns into a war  
_

"I'm not innocent, I know that, but I'm trying to make things right because the fighting isn't just hurting me. It's hurting everyone and how can we ever beat Lily if we can't stand united. She started all of this and you're letting her win. This is what she wanted, she wanted to see us all divided."

_Why is it the smallest things that tear us down?_

Kit desperately wanted to explain but his lips were still under Robyn's silencing finger.

_Both hands tied behind my back for nothing  
Oh no_

"I thought we were getting somewhere," Robyn whispered, "I thought we could all move on from this."

_These times when we climb so fast to fall again  
Why we gotta fall for it now?_

Sportacus edged closer to Robyn, reaching out for her behind the stricken Kit. His hand extended as he silently asked her to take it.

_I never meant to start a war  
You know I never wanna hurt you  
Don't even know what we're fighting for_

Kit could see that he was rapidly losing Robyn to the one man he'd hoped to protect her from, the one man central to the shattering of the illusion her life had been.

_Why does love always feel like a battlefield  
a battlefield  
a battlefield  
a battlefield_

Robyn was still looking at Kit, her eyes confirming his fears.

_Can't swallow our pride  
Neither of us wanna raise that flag  
If we can't surrender  
then we're both gonna lose what we had, oh no_

Kit knew what Robyn was asking him silently but he didn't know if he could accept it, too much had happened. Too many bonds had been undone.

_Both hands tied behind my back with nothing  
(nothing)  
Oh no, these times when we climb so fast to fall again  
I don't wanna fall for it now_

Kit's eyes pleaded with Robyn as he opened his thoughts to her, willing her to listen to him.

_I never meant to start a war  
You know I never wanna hurt you  
Don't even know what we're fighting for_

Robyn moved her eyes from Kit to Sportacus; he was still reaching out for her.

_Why does love always feel like ...  
a battlefield (battlefield)  
a battlefield (battlefield)  
a battlefield (battlefield)_

Robyn took Sportacus' hand and he moved past Kit. He turned back to look at him as Robyn walked away, leading him with her.

_I guess you better go and get your armour  
(get your armour)  
Get your armour (get your armour)  
I guess you better go and get your armour  
(get your armour)  
Get your armour (get your armour)  
I guess you better go and get your armour_

Kit sunk in the doorway as the enormity of what he'd done took the strength from his legs.

_Why does love always feel like ...  
a battlefield (battlefield)  
a battlefield (battlefield)  
a battlefield (battlefield)_

He may have just pushed Robyn away for good.

_AN – song was 'Battlefield' by Jordin Sparks_


	28. Chapter 28

Their journey in the car was a silent one, none of the four occupants wanting to break the silence surrounding them. Taking his eyes from the road momentarily and looking in his rear view mirror, Sportacus could see Robyn gazing absently out of the window with one of her escorts studying her stillness. Looking to his right he smiled slightly at the other man in the car, another of Robyn's escorts, before focussing on the road again.

He noticed the sign for Toothtown drift past him as the darkness outside gave way to twinkling city lights. Buildings began to fill the empty space around them as he drew closer to population from the outskirts and spying a restaurant just up ahead he slowed down, turning the car just to the side of it to pull into the car park.

Robyn seemed to come out of her trance as the car came to a gentle halt and Sportacus turned off the engine. Her eyes met his in the rear view mirror and he looked over his shoulder at her, smiling, before he unclipped his seat belt. With the energy he'd always used to have, she watched as he opened the car door and jumped out. She removed her seat belt as he opened her door and she took his hand as he helped her get out.

Sportacus released Robyn's hand as he looked up at the two men that had just vacated the car, "You guys hungry?" He asked the three people before him.

Robyn shook her head while Leka and Salonen nodded slightly. They'd come on duty for Robyn's watch just as she'd left her house, leading Sportacus with her. They had intended to eat dinner with her at her family home as had become habit for those taking on the evening shift with her. Robbie and Kit had been adamant that the Network officers supervising Robyn ate their meals with them if they wanted to.

"You should eat," Sportacus spoke softly to Robyn as he cupped her chin with his hand.

When Kathleen had told him about Robyn being at the hospital she'd let slip about Doctor Cole's concerns that Robyn hadn't been eating properly. At least for this occasion he was going to make sure she had a proper meal.

Looking into Sportacus' eyes, Robyn knew she had no choice in the matter and walked towards the rear entrance of the restaurant. She hadn't realised the full extent of her hunger until she breathed in the delicious scent of her favourite ethnic food.

"Toothtown Indian Cuisine," She read out loud as she looked up at the sign above the door.

'Since when did we get to Toothtown? I thought we'd only just left Lazytown.' She thought, her face displaying her confusion.

Sportacus chuckled as he saw the expression on Robyn's face as he approached her. She'd obviously been completely zoned out while staring out of the window and missed half their journey. He playfully cupped her cheek as he walked past her and held open the door to the restaurant for her.

Strangely excited, Robyn passed quickly through the door and was greeted on the other side by two waiters who were waiting to take any coats or jackets the party might have and show them to a table.

"Namaste," They greeted simultaneously as Sportacus and the two Network officers entered.

Robyn and Sportacus both bowed their heads, smiling and replied, "Namaste,"

"Would you like a table for four?" One of the waiters asked stepping forward slightly.

Robyn looked at Sportacus and then at her two consorts, both of which looked at each other and shook their heads.

"I think we should maybe have two tables. Give you and Sportacus some space. Just because we have to more or less follow you everywhere doesn't mean we have to be on top of you if we eat somewhere. Just as long as we can keep an eye on you at least and get to you quickly if anything happens." Leka explained, looking at Robyn.

"Two tables it is then," The other waiter sounded before leading the party to their tables, making note that they had to be sat reasonably close together but also understanding a need for privacy between two of them. He didn't question why this young woman was being escorted by one man in plain clothes and two others in black leather uniforms.

Seating Robyn and Sportacus first, the waiter showed them to a table nestled between two bench seats. He first pulled the table to one side and indicated for Robyn to sit and when she had done so he did the same again, pushing the table to the other side and allowing Sportacus room to squeeze in before he straightened the table. He pulled two menus from a holder on the wall and said that he would give them a few minutes to choose their drinks and would also take their food order if they were ready.

Once the waiter had seated Robyn and Sportacus he asked the two men in uniforms where they would care to sit, Salonen pointed to a bank of tables on the opposite wall that were just standard tables and chairs. The waiter pulled a chair away from the table that he thought might be appropriate and the two men nodded their assent. They were quickly seated and given menus.

As she was studying the menu in front of her, a memory resurfaced in Robyn's mind of a time when she and Sportacus had sat in a place like this, one of the first times he'd taken her for a proper 'grown up' meal out. It had been just a few days shy of her sixteenth birthday and he'd taken her to an Indian restaurant just on the edge of Greentown. She had ordered Lemonade while Sportacus had ordered a sparkling water. They'd been so busy chatting that when the drinks had been set down on the table, Sportacus hadn't noticed the yellowish tinge to what he'd taken to be water and gulped two mouthfuls of Lemonade. Almost instantly he'd suffered a sugar meltdown but Robyn had been there to bring him out of it, her quick thinking and penchant for carrying sports candy in her bag coming to their assistance.

Back then, Robyn thought, Sportacus had been her uncle. He was living a lie. Her life was a lie as well.

Sportacus detected Robyn's thoughtfulness and he wondered what she was thinking of. He nodded at the waiter thanking him for bringing their drinks; he made a special point to test his by dipping the tip of his little finger before licking it. He too remembered when he'd taken for granted that the waiter wouldn't put the drinks down in the wrong place. Satisfied that the drink by him was water, Sportacus began to take a draught of it.

"I want a DNA test," Robyn blurted without warning.

This sudden request hit Sportacus like a shockwave and he spluttered while still drinking. He coughed as some of the liquid went down the wrong way and he tried to clear it.

"What?" He eventually managed to croak, unsure of whether he'd heard Robyn right or rather wishing he hadn't.

"I want a DNA test," Robyn repeated, "I have to know the truth. I have to know whether you're my uncle or my father."


	29. Chapter 29

Sportacus could only stare at Robyn for what seemed like an age. He'd never considered the possibility that she'd want a DNA test. It was a concept he'd never thought of himself and the logistics of it made his head spin. So convinced had he been that she was his daughter that he hadn't once given way entirely to the possibility that owing to Lily's promiscuous nature that any number of men had fathered the young woman sitting in front of him.

"We...we can do that," Sportacus stammered, "If you want a DNA test we can do that. I can call Doctor Malone first thing in the morni-"

"Now!" Robyn cut in, her voice filled with a fear that Sportacus would try to hold up the test.

Hold the truth from her as he had done for her whole life.

Nodding dumbly, Sportacus took his mobile phone from his trouser pocket and punched in the number for Doctor Malone's pager. After a minute or so the phone rang and a rather sleeping sounding Doctor came on the line. He sounded surprised at the request and requested that Sportacus and Robyn both see him at the Outreach Clinic in the morning.

He'd see to it then.

Sportacus tucked his phone away and cleared his throat as his eyes met Robyn's. She held his gaze briefly before getting up from the table and walking away. Not knowing what else to do, Sportacus fumbled for his wallet and clumsily threw some money on the table before running after Robyn, hot on the heels of Leka and Salonen who'd jumped up as soon as Robyn had started to move.

As the cold air outside brushed him with its embrace, Sportacus spied Robyn standing by the car. It was clear she wanted to go home; he just hoped their relationship would suffer no further. Unlocking the car he opened the door for Robyn, closing it when she was seated and he climbed in himself.

The drive back to Lazytown had seemed longer than the drive from it and Sportacus was beginning to feel tired as he pulled the car up outside Robyn's house. Leka and Salonen exited the vehicle and Leka went to open Robyn's door but was stopped by Sportacus who got there first. Robyn had fallen asleep on the journey home and he was reluctant to wake her. Bending down he unclipped her seat belt and gathered her up, lifting her gently from the car and started to walk towards the house. As he approached the front door opened and on the other side of it was Robbie, concern vivid on his face.

"She fell asleep," Sportacus explained before Robbie could utter a word.

Relieved that at least no harm had come to Robyn, Robbie motioned that he could handle things from here and take Robyn the rest of the way but Sportacus denied him as he pushed through into the house. Carrying Robyn up the stairs he skilfully opened her bedroom door with his foot and placed her in the empty bed. He didn't care to wonder where Kit was and was somewhat glad that he seemed to have avoided him.

With Robyn lying comfortably in bed, Sportacus carefully removed her shoes and socks and covered her with the duvet. Robyn stirred slightly as he planted a gentle kiss on her cheek and he left the room.

Robbie was still stood by the front door when Sportacus reached the bottom of the stairs. He wondered if this was a hint for him to leave as quickly as possible or whether Robbie was merely confused about what he wanted to do. Remembering that he'd left his car running; Sportacus had no choice but to aim for the first option. He stopped just inside the door and turned back to Robbie.

"Robyn wants a DNA test" Sportacus stated to a frowning Robbie, "I'm picking her up in the morning and taking her to the outreach clinic. I'll phone ahead before I make my way over."

Robbie silently watched Sportacus' retreating back as he re-entered his car and spared him a glance before driving off. As Robbie pushed the door shut he was bombarded with a mixture of emotions. He wondered if Sportacus felt the same as he had about taking a test, he wondered how Robyn felt having asked for the one thing that could dispel any doubt with regards to the identity of her father.

'Provided he's still alive,' Robbie thought to himself as he shook his head. He just hoped Robyn knew what she was doing.

Robyn smiled as she felt the familiar goateed chin of her lover brush her cheek, his soft lips kissing her then tickling her ear as she heard him apologise for upsetting her in a silly voice. She opened her eyes and turned over, coming face to face with something that made her blink twice and burst out laughing.

Kit shared Robyn's laughter, his idea had had the desired effect and it had been worth the pain he'd put himself through to get it done.

"When did you get that done?" Robyn squeaked as she gasped for air in a break from her laughter.

Kit waggled his eyebrows, accentuating the big 'MUG' he'd had tattooed on his forehead and sending Robyn into a resumed fit of laughter, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Broken from his reverie by the almost forgotten sound of laughter coming from upstairs, Robbie gingerly climbed the stairs. His pace quickened when he heard a loud bump as if someone had fallen out of bed and almost running to Robyn's bedroom he threw open the door and was greeted by two people laughing hysterically.

He too did a double take when he saw Kit's new tattoo and joined in the contagious laughter.


	30. Chapter 30

Robyn hadn't spoken to him since last night, not even a word. She'd been sitting on the doorstep when he pulled the car up outside her house, flanked by her two guardians for the day. They'd acknowledged his presence verbally whereas Robyn had nodded before traipsing over to the car and seating herself inside it. Their drive to the Outreach clinic had been in silence and they were now sitting in the corridor outside Doctor Malone's office waiting for him to see them.

When the door to Doctor Malone's office opened, Robyn jumped up as did Sportacus. Robyn's guardians remained seated; there was no need for them to follow her into the room. Once Robyn had entered, Doctor Malone held out his hand stopping Sportacus in his tracks.

"I think perhaps I should speak to Robyn on her own first. There's something I want to discuss with her before we go on to the task at hand." Doctor Malone said before closing his office door and resuming the chair he'd vacated behind his desk. He laid his hands on the table and spread them as he spoke, "So I'm under the impression that you require a DNA test?"

Robyn nodded, "Yeah."

Doctor Malone sighed and sat back in his chair, "I can see your reasons why but I just want to make sure that you're aware of the implications of this. This is an extremely difficult situation and I worry that should the result be not what you're hoping for, either positive or negative, might exacerbate the current issues that I can see are so very raw for you still. I have concerns about your mental state and no matter what the result it could cause problems for you. It's not something I enjoy doing but let's play devil's advocate for the moment. Let's assume that the test comes back positive and Sportacus is your father, will it not just reopen wounds that have started to heal or deepen them? What if the test comes back negative? You'll still know about Sportacus' exploits with Lily, it certainly wouldn't alter that fact and would you be able to have a workable relationship with him as your Uncle after everything that's happened? Not to mention that you'd be in the dark about the identity of your father who could quite rightly be anyone, perhaps someone who is no longer with us. I have to say that I'm not sure either result is something you could cope with."

"What would you suggest?" Robyn asked her voice bleak.

"Unfortunately, I can't say. If you choose to proceed with this test then I can't stop you, in this situation it's extraordinarily hard to say whether or not to leave things be. As long as you're aware of the fundamental fact that after everything that's happened things will never be the same again regardless of the results there's little I can do to dissuade you."

Studying the tortured girl in front of him for a moment, Doctor Malone sighed and stood up. He opened the door and motioned for Sportacus to enter who did so and sat beside Robyn.

"Now perhaps, Sportacus, we could hear your feelings about this? I've heard Robyn's but I think perhaps she needs to be aware of things from your point of view."

Sportacus licked his lips nervously and took both of Robyn's hands in one of his, gladdened slightly when she made no move to resist. He tucked what hair had escaped from behind her ear back where she liked it to be and looked deeply into her eyes. She was evidently struggling with tears.

"I love you," He choked, his voice full of emotion, "No matter what's happened, what I've done or what you've done I love you. I was so convinced that I was your father I had to tell you that night when you went to walk awa-"

"After you chose Ellen over me!" Robyn spat ripping her hands from Sportacus' and storming over to the window, pressing her forehead to the cold glass. "That night I told you to drop dead."

Sportacus stood slowly; he crossed the floor as he closed the gap between him and Robyn. He cautiously laid a hand on her shoulder, expecting it to be shrugged off but instead Robyn's hand found his and her fingers interlaced with his.

Still full of emotion, Sportacus opened his heart fully. "I can't change what I did; I can't change how disgusted I feel with myself over what happened with Lily. How I let myself fall into her trap but if the result comes back positive I just want you to know that I'm not sorry about the outcome of the night I spent with her when she first came to Lazytown. If it'd never happened you wouldn't be here and I never would have known how proud you'd make me or how much I could love anyone."

"If you loved me so much why did you dump me outside daddy's lair with that note?" Robyn retorted.

Thunderstruck, Sportacus remembered the first time that the issue had come up, when Robyn had punched him to the ground and had to be dragged away. He'd remained on the ground and he'd be certain that for that brief moment before she'd been sedated that it was Lily being dragged away from him, not Robyn.

Sportacus closed his eyes tightly and he lowered his head, "Because I didn't think I was fit to raise you, not after what I'd done. There was another way, I knew but I let myself get drawn in by _her._ When Lily brought you to me that night I didn't know what to do. I held you in my arms and you were so tiny, so beautiful. Too beautiful and pure to be infected by my sin. I gave you up to the one man I knew would love you without question, the man I thought was your real father. The note was Lily's, she'd left it pinned to you and was going to dump you if I wasn't there. There's no excuse for what I did and I can't forgive myself any more than I know than you could ever forgive me. When Robbie died and I took over your guardianship I swore to do all I could to right the wrongs I'd done you and do everything in my power to love you unconditionally and try to stop you becoming like Lily. You have been all I've needed in my life and I guess the only time I'd thought about telling you the truth was when I knew I'd already lost you."

He'd released the words he'd been holding onto for so long, confessing his inner most feelings and Robyn could feel the harsh truth in each and every word. As they ran through her blood she allowed her heart to soften, he'd finally told her all that her soul had begged to know but the question still hung above them as she felt Sportacus' head sink into her hair.

Was he her father?


End file.
